The Beacon Program and Clinic at Children's Mercy Kansas City provides a pediatric medical home approach to care for children with medical complexity. The program streamlines health care for families and patients through a team-based, accessible, comprehensive, and coordinated approach.
Implementation Insights:
- Create written policies for each new successful procedure implemented in practice.
- Host sibling support group events for families and caregivers to encourage peer support and relationship building.
- Develop plans of care in partnership with families and the health care team.
Background Information
- Type of Practice: Academic Institution, Pediatric Medicine
- Location: Kansas City, Missouri
- Population Served: The Beacon Program and Clinic serves approximately 200 families of children with medical complexity and their siblings.
Pediatric Medical Home Implementation Strategies
- Utilize quality improvement methodology to foster transformation into a pediatric medical home model of care.
- Convene weekly meetings to review progress on measures and discuss successes and challenges.
- Create written guidelines every time a new process is developed.
- Facilitate 24 hour a day, seven day a week access to a primary care provider via telephone.
- Allow families and patients to schedule same day appointments.
- Implement a team-based approach to care by including the following professionals on the health care team:
- APRN Case Managers
- Clinical Service Coordinators
- Primary care providers
- Registered Dietitians
- Social workers
- Create a "Pediatric Emergency Form" which patients and families can present at the Emergency Department. The form includes basic information about the patient, family, and contact information for the primary care team.
- Hold an annual 2-hour "Health and Service Evaluation" meeting for each patient seen by the program. This meeting involves the entire health care team and results in the creation of a comprehensive care plan for the patient and family.
- Provide the availability of language interpreters at every visit with the patient and family (in-person and via telephone).
- Host "sibling support group" events with families and caregivers to allow opportunities for families to meet each other and provide peer support.
- Provide health care services to siblings of children and youth with complex medical conditions to enhance family-centeredness of the clinic.
- Develop a telehealth appointment process that allows for same-day acute care visits in the patient/family home.
- Establish a family advisory board to allow for family and caregiver feedback on clinic procedures and policies.
Challenges
- Many changes were implemented in the clinic in a short time frame, causing staff burnout. To address this challenge, the team held weekly meetings to discuss barriers to change, successes, and review quality improvement measures. A strong motivator for continued change and project implementation was discussing the postive impact of the work on patients and families.
More Information
- For more information, contact Ingrid Larson, MBA, MSN, DNP, APRN, CPNP.
- View more information about Ingrid Larson, Director of the Beacon Program and Clinic here.
- Visit the Beacon Program and Clinic at Children's Mercy Kansas City Web site for further information.
Last Updated
06/07/2022
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics