Medical homes for children with special health care needs: a program evaluation

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot project providing a medical home to children with special health care needs (CSHCN). This study differs from previous work in that it monitors a cohort of CSHCN one year prior to and two years after participation in a medical home intervention utilizing a quasi-experimental design.

Results: The groups being compared demonstrated descriptive differences in emergency room (ER) and preventive visits. Statistically significant differences in ER visits were achieved by the second intervention year.

Conclusions: The current research demonstrates that a medical home can have demonstrable effect on utilization of preventive and emergency care by CSHCN. Limitations of the current research include small sample size and lack of information on acuity and quality of life.