Medical Home: Access and Care Coordination
Also important to the concept of the medical home is children's access to primary and preventive care, consistent care when they are sick, access to referrals when they are needed, and support to help to assure that the various services they receive are coordinated.
These criteria were met for the majority of children. Overall, 92.2 percent were reported to have a personal doctor or nurse, 93.1 percent had a source of sick care, and 82.3 percent had no problems obtaining referrals when needed. The criterion that was met for the lowest percentage of children was the receipt of effective care coordination services, which was met by 68.8 percent of children.
Overall, 75.9 percent of children received care that met all four of these criteria. Children with private health insurance were most likely to have care that met all of the criteria for access and coordination (81.9 percent). Of children with public insurance, 69.0 percent received care that met all four criteria, as did 57.4 percent of uninsured children.