Learning Collaboratives - Shriners Hospital for Children- Medical Home Project

Shriners Hospitals for Children Medical Home Project

Shriners Hospitals for Children, in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics, has undertaken a nationwide plan to enhance their current communication practices to improve collaboration between primary and specialty care. The aim of this project is to improve the process of communication so that patients receive efficient, coordinated healthcare within the context of a medical home. Over the past year, the project was piloted in 7 Shriners Hospitals for Children to improve the adaptability of the intervention in various care settings that address orthopedic problems, burns, and spinal cord injuries. Elements of the project include identification of and communication with referring physicians from the time a child’s first appointment is made, system changes to make communication automatic when children are treated, improvement of telephone systems to facilitate communication from PCPs, and educational outreach programs.

The remaining domestic Shriners Hospitals for Children were invited to join the roll out of the program starting in 2008. Eight hospitals started in January, with the remaining 5 starting in July. Currently, every Shriners hospital is at a different level of communication with referring primary care providers: some already have systems in place, while others will be just starting the project. The goals of the program are to implement consistent communication systems that work for staff, patients, and primary care providers, while also making these processes smoother and more efficient. The leadership team that is overseeing the implementation will be teaching hospital staff to use advanced quality improvement techniques, such as Six Sigma and Lean methodologies. This will ensure that all processes are streamlined and beneficial to patient care. This is one of the first initiatives to focus on co-management between primary and tertiary care providers at the level of an entire hospital system, as well as one of the first to implement advanced quality improvement techniques focused on the Medical Home concept.

The following program guide and map have been used by the Shriners Hospitals for Children to guide them in their quality improvement work to create enhanced linkages and communication with medical homes.

Program Guide

Process Map 1-Part 1

Process Map 1 -Part 2

For more information in regards to this project, please contact, Jennifer Marks, MPH, Manager, Medical Home Quality Improvement Programs, jmarks@aap.org or 800/ 433-9016 ext. 4924 in the Division of Children with Special Needs.

Last Updated March 13, 2008