As president and CEO of the California Children’s Hospital Association, Ann-Louise Kuhns usually has children with special health care needs on her mind, but never more than now when the California Children’s Services program is undergoing a major transformation and funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program remains uncertain.
Children with Medical Complexity (CMC) make up a small but costly subgroup among children with special health care needs, and their numbers are growing. This report analyzes the efforts of 11 California medical centers to develop complex care clinics capable of delivering comprehensive, quality care to CMC in a medical home setting. The report outlines the key challenges to developing these clinics and recommends strengthening their support and expanding their partnerships to develop regional models of care.
Sometimes, all a family needs is a phone call on their behalf. Sometimes, an entire health care system needs to change. Amy Breedlove navigates the space between those two extremes as she coordinates care for children who are among the most medically complex in California’s Central Valley.
The future of the California Children’s Services program has spawned numerous but often unfocused discussions. A new paper from Ed Schor, MD, senior vice president at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, attempts to organize and focus forthcoming discussions. This issue brief is provided as a proposal to which stakeholders are encouraged to react.
Madeline Hall, Manager, Grant Development at Children’s Hospital of Orange County Foundation, knows firsthand how challenging it can be to finance care coordination for children with special health care needs. In this guest post, she shares what she has learned and offers inspiration for those doing similar work.
Nearly 10,000 children are discharged from U.S. hospitals every day, yet no widely used pediatric standards for discharge care exist. How can hospitals make post-hospital care better? A new study in JAMA Pediatrics has some answers.
As back-to-school season gets under way, Corina Samaniego empowers parents of children with special health care needs to get the educational services their children require.
Jim Santucci, an advocate at the forefront of California’s pediatric palliative care movement for seriously ill children, talks about an innovative Medi-Cal hospice program and its uncertain future.
Pip Marks, manager of Family Voices of California, talks about a new program to help families learn to advocate effectively for their children with special health care needs.
Care coordination is critical for linking children with special health care need and their families to needed medical, developmental, behavioral, educational, and social services, and for providing logistical assistance and emotional support. This report outlines the key components of an effective, sustainable care coordination system, examines approaches to care coordination in six states other than California, and offers considerations for options in California's unique environment.
