Does Your Child Have a Medical Home?

Home: a place where you’re surrounded by people you know and where you feel comfortable. Imagine creating this sense of home within a trusted pediatrician’s office – a medical home. While it won’t have your favorite chair and may require you to leave your shoes on, a medical home creates a sense of comfort and familiarity and also ensures the most comprehensive care for your child. Here your child’s medical records are complete, both medical and non-medical needs are met, and assistance is available to help the patient access specialty care, other health care services, educational services, family support and community services important to overall health.

More and more experts such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are stressing the importance of this type of regular, ongoing care. Good preventive care helps children and adults stay healthier, and it helps to contain runaway health care costs by preventing costly illnesses and injuries

So, what should you look for when choosing a medical home for your child? According to the AAP, a trusted pediatrician provides primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective. There should be a partnership of mutual responsibility and trust with the child and family. We ask that you provide us a complete medical history of your child. It is also important that you give us complete information on any medical care your child receives outside of our practice.

Our pediatricians provide care aligned with evidence based guidelines ranging from preventive (such as checkups and immunizations) to acute (such as injuries, infections and sudden stomach aches) to chronic (long-term) conditions. A medical home becomes even more important when a child suffers from a chronic condition such as asthma, diabetes, and ADHD. These conditions are managed more effectively when the physician can see the patient over the course of time. Our practice provides education and support to assist you in managing your child’s health.

So, while emergency rooms and urgent care clinics have their uses, for day-to-day care it is best to stick with your regular pediatric practice – a place you and your child can call home. Make Memphis Children’s Clinic your medical home. Call (901) 396-0390 or your preferred location for more information.