In recent years, you may have heard the slogan "Every Child Deserves a Medical Home." A Medical Home is not a building or a place. It's an idea for a whole system of care for children.

In a Medical Home, families and providers work together as partners to access all the services needed for a child-both medical and non-medical. Medical Home is as much an attitude as it is a way of delivering care. Families are recognized as the main caregivers and the center of strength and support for children.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a Medical Home is a primary care practice that is "accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective, and for which the primary care pediatrician shares responsibility."

Medical Home is an important part of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services' "Healthy People 2010" plan. The goal of Healthy People 2010 is to improve the health of all people-including children with special health care needs.

What Does Medical Home Mean to You and Your Child?

Medical Home is a helpful way to think about your child's whole system of care. If your child has a condition or disability that requires extra care, referrals to specialists, and/or other services, ask your child's primary care provider (PCP) about Medical Home. You can also find out more information about Medical Home from:

Tip: For tips on Medical Home, see the brochure A New Way...A Better Way. The Medical Home Partnership: Building a Home Base for Your Child with Special Health Care Needs , available from New England SERVE or 617-574-9493.

This information is provided by the Division of Perinatal, Early Childhood, and Special Health Needs within the Department of Public Health.