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Medical Home
Critical components of the medical home involve the management, communication, and successful transfer of patient information and health care data between physicians, patient and families as well as and other professionals, programs, and service agencies.
The adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) - such as electronic health record (EHR) systems, personal health records (PHRs), patient registries, and the use of clinical decision support – play a key role in supporting the pediatric information functions of the medical home. Well-designed and implemented HIT systems facilitate access to and sharing of important patient information amongst a care coordination team, in supporting provider-patient communication, and is a tool for patient engagement.
The AAP has identified the following functional components that should be supported through a pediatric medical home:
- Timely and continuous management and tracking of health data and services over a patient’s lifetime for all providers, patients, families, and guardians
- Comprehensive organization and secure transfer of health data during patient-care transitions between providers, institutions, and practices.
- Establishment and maintenance of central coordination of a patient’s health information among multiple repositories
- Translating evidence into actionable clinical decision support
- Reuse of archived clinical data for continuous quality improvement
Important Resources
American Academy of Pediatrics
- AAP Policy Statement: Health Information Technology and the Medical Home
- AAP Child Health Informatics Center, Meaningful Use Resources
- National Center for Medical Home Implementation
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
- HIT Potential to Build Medical Homes
- Practice-Based Population Health: Information Technology to Support Transformation to Proactive Primary Care
Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC)
