The "medical home" has been endorsed as a standard of primary care, in which patients have access to health care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective. The medical home has received widespread attention as a way to ensure quality health care for children with special health care needs, as well as for adults with chronic conditions.
A new study examines the role of the medical home for the pediatric population as a whole. The study, "The Medical Home: Health Care Access and Impact for Children and Youth in the United States," published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online March 17), used data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health to analyze how many children had access to a medical home.
In 2007, 56.9 percent of U.S. children ages 1 to 17 years received care in medical homes. Younger children were more likely to have a medical home than older children. The authors detected large racial and ethnic disparities, with non-Hispanic white children having the highest rate of access to a medical home, and Hispanic children having the lowest rate. Children who received care in medical homes were more likely to have annual preventive medical visits, and were less likely to have unmet medical and dental needs.
The study findings reinforce the need to expand federal, state and community efforts to ensure all children have access to this model of care.
