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Medical transport of children with complex chronic conditions

Carlos F Lerner1, Robert B Kelly, Leslie J Hamilton

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

Emergency Medicine International
|February 9, 2012
PubMed

Insights

The number of children with special health care needs is rising, requiring new approaches in pediatric care. This includes enhanced care coordination, family-centered models, and specialized medical transport for complex conditions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Health Services Research

Background:

  • Increasing prevalence of children with special health care needs (CSHCN), including complex chronic conditions.
  • Growing proportion of healthcare resources dedicated to CSHCN care.
  • Need for adaptive healthcare strategies to address demographic shifts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine recent healthcare developments for CSHCN, focusing on medical transport and prehospital care.
  • To identify innovations in care coordination and family-centered care models.
  • To explore regionalization efforts and specialized pediatric transport.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent developments in pediatric healthcare services.
  • Analysis of trends in care coordination, patient-centered medical homes, and emergency information forms.
  • Examination of training programs for prehospital providers and specialized pediatric transport teams.

Main Results:

  • Dissemination of the patient-centered medical home concept.
  • Development of emergency information forms for prehospital care coordination.
  • Integration of modules for complex conditions in prehospital provider training.
  • Emergence of specialized pediatric transport teams and regionalization of care.

Conclusions:

  • Healthcare systems are adapting to the rise in CSHCN through improved coordination and specialized services.
  • Shift towards family-centered care models is evident.
  • Recommendations for future research agenda are proposed to further optimize care for CSHCN.

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