Medical Home Finds Real Estate in a Children’s Hospital

The Center for children and youth with special health care needs(CYSHCN) at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia is one such modeland has grown steadily over the last 10 years. The medical home model embraced by theCenter for CYSHCN focuses on care coordination, patient- and family-centered care, andintegrated communication tools (such as care plans and medical summaries). The vastmajority of CYSHCN treated at the Center during this study ranged in age from 6 to 12years. Of those children, 82% had public insurance, 17% required home-nursing services,24% required mobility aids, and 16% required enteral nutritional/feeding tubes. The mostcommon diagnoses included developmental delay, intellectual disability, and cerebralpalsy. When compared with CYSHCN enrolled in a statewide medical home program, theseverity of the medical conditions of CYSHCN cared for at the Center was statisticallysignificantly higher/more complex