Information for Healthcare Providers of Children with Special Health Care Needs

What you should do

Support Medical Homes

Medical Homes, also known as the Patient-Centered Medical Homes, are an approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, and their primary or specialty care providers, and when appropriate, the patient’s family. Medical homes for children with special health care needs are vital and should be: coordinated, comprehensive, continuous, culturally competent, family-centered, and compassionate. The Office of Special Health Care Needs provides providers with a resources in providing a medical home for children and youth with special health care needs and their families.

Resources

Healthcare Transition: Planning for Teens with Special Healthcare Needs is a 4-page booklet for parents, caregivers, or professionals of youth with special healthcare needs describing the importance of healthcare transition and steps to take to be ready.

Portable Medical Summary is a summary of important pediatric diagnoses, services, and treatments that would be critical for an adult healthcare provider to know for continuity of care.

Transfer Guidance & Checklist for Providers outlines a schedule of age-specific discussions and actions that a pediatric primary care physician should complete with a youth with special healthcare needs starting at age 13. 

Youth Healthcare Matrix by Rhodes to Independence outlines the different types of youth and adult options to financing healthcare including brief eligibility information.

Benefits at a Glance is a chart outlining assistance programs, provided by the Rhode Island’s Resource Place for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities