Center for Children with Medical Complexity

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What is a Medical Home?

Infographic of the Medical Home model as a large circle with a black outline in the center with six multicolor outlined circles surrounding it. The center circle says patient in the center. Each surrounding circle has a term in the center starting clockwise from the top left: care navigator, specialty provider, RN care coordinator, ancillary services, insurance health plan, social work, and primary care provider.The medical home model is a team-based approach to providing healthcare that emphasizes a comprehensive, coordinated, and patient-centered approach. In this model, a primary care physician, a specialty physician, or other qualified healthcare professional acts as a "medical home" for patients, coordinating their care across multiple settings and providers, and providing a wide range of preventive, acute, and chronic care services.

The medical home team may include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, care coordinators, pharmacists, social workers, and other healthcare professionals, who work together to provide patients with high-quality, accessible, and coordinated care. It is designed to improve health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and enhance the patient experience by fostering closer relationships between patients and their healthcare providers, and by providing more personalized, proactive, and coordinated care. The model has been widely adopted in the United States, and is increasingly recognized as an effective approach to delivering primary care in other countries as well.