What is a medical home?

A medical home isn’t a building or a place you go to. It’s a way of giving your child highquality health care. In a medical home, doctors, nurses, and other health professionals work together as a team to support your child and your family. They help with both simple and complex health needs.

What happens in a medical home?

In a medical home, a care team creates a plan that covers all your child’s health needs.
This plan helps connect all the doctors and services your child uses. It’s especially helpful 
if your child sees many doctors or takes different medications from different doctors.

Key Features of a Medical Home

A good medical home should be:

  • Patient- and Family-Centered: Your family is seen as the most important part of 
    your child’s care. You help make decisions and get the support and information
    you need, based on your family’s preferences.
  • Comprehensive: The care team helps with all your child’s physical and mental
    health needs—like checkups, illnesses, and long-term conditions.
  • Coordinated: Care is organized across all parts of the health care system—like
    hospitals, specialists, and community services. Everyone involved shares the same
    care plan.
  • Accessible: It’s easy to get care with short wait times, after-hours help, and ways to
    reach the team by phone or online.
  • Continuous: Your child sees the same main doctor from babyhood through young 
    adulthood, helping with the move to adult care.
  • Committed to Quality and Safety: The team works to give the best care and 
    makes sure you have the information you need to make decisions about your
    child’s health.
  • Compassionate: The members of the care team truly care about your child and
    your family.
  • Respectful: Your family’s culture, language, beliefs, and traditions are recognized,
    valued, and respected.

Why is a medical home helpful for children with special health needs?

For kids with special or complex health needs, a medical home can:

  • Improve Communication: It helps all your child’s doctors and therapists stay 
    connected and avoid confusion as they work together and work with other systems 
    like early intervention or schools.
  • Catch Problems Early: The team can spot new health issues or health needs
    before they get worse.
  • Lead to Better Health: Working together often means better health for your child.
  • Support Families: It makes caring for your child easier by sharing the work and 
    making decisions together.
  • Reduce Emergencies: Finding problems early can mean fewer ER visits or hospital 
    stays.

How to Find or Build a Medical Home

A medical home takes time to build and can look different for each child. It usually starts 
with your child’s main doctor or clinic. If your child has very complex needs, a specialist 
might lead the medical home.

When talking to a doctor about starting a medical home, remember that your voice 
matters. You know your child best.

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Provider

  • Do they treat your family as experts on your child?
  • Do they work with you to make decisions?
  • Do they respect your family’s culture and beliefs?
  • Do they understand your child’s condition and how it affects your life?
  • Do they include all your child’s health needs in the care plan, including well-child 
    visits and immunizations?
  • Can they help you find specialists and community services?
  • Do they support you in managing your child’s care plan?
  • Do they give you clear information and let you make final decisions?

What to Look for in a Medical Home Team 

  • They listen well and talk openly with you.
  • They share information with other doctors and team members.
  • For older kids, they help with the move to adult care and involve them in planning.
  • They work with schools and other services to support your child’s needs, like IEPs or 504 plans.

Additional Resources

For more information, check out these helpful resources:

Download Resource

 

The National Center for a System of Services for CYSHCN is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,500,000 with no funding from nongovernmental sources. The information or content are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

 

Last Updated

04/08/2026

Source

American Academy of Pediatrics