AAP RECEIVES GOVERNMENT AWARD FOR WORK ON MEDICAL HOME

Washington, DC---The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) today received the Highest Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Disability, for promoting the medical home. A medical home is not a building, house or hospital, but an approach to providing health care to all children, including those with disabilities, in a high-quality, comprehensive, and cost-effective manner.

"Every child deserves a medical home," said AAP President Eileen Ouellette, MD, JD, during a Washington, DC award ceremony. "It's all about helping children and their families achieve their maximum potential."

The medical care of infants, children, adolescents and young adults ideally should be accessible, family-centered, comprehensive, continuous, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective. Children and their families would receive the care that they need from a pediatrician or physician whom they know and trust. Services should include access to medical care 24 hours, seven days a week; when appropriate, referral to pediatric medical subspecialists and surgical specialists; and interaction with child care, early childhood education programs and schools to ensure that the needs of the child and family are addressed.

The Academy, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), runs the National Center of Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Health Care Needs, www.medicalhomeinfo.org. An agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focuses on screening and surveillance in the medical home.

"We value the help of the federal government, particularly MCHB and CDC, in working with us to make this concept a reality in communities across the country," said Dr. Ouellette.

The AAP also appreciates the contributions of other medical home partners, Family Voices and the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The benefits of a medical home include increased patient and family satisfaction, improved coordination of care, an established forum for problem solving, efficient use of limited resources, and increased wellness resulting from comprehensive care.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.