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.
Keeping families at the center of children’s health care is always the priority of Family Voices, says Lynda Honberg, mother of a young adult with special health care needs and director of strategic partnerships for the national advocacy group.
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.
Dr. Susanne Martin Herz is on the front lines of a San Mateo County demonstration project to improve early screening and treatment of children at risk for developmental disabilities.
