ABSTRACT
Introduction Children with complex health-care needs, chronic illness, and disability require a wide range of services to achieve an acceptable quality of life, to be included in the communities in which they live, and to avert further disease and disability. As a result, case management has become an important aspect of pediatric care as it helps to ensure these services are coordinated and delivered in an e•ective and e°cient way. Pediatric case managers have many roles to play. ’ey not only locate, access, and coordinate services, but they are often part of the extended support system for the child and family. Caring for children and their families is, by its very nature, holistic. Pediatric
Contents Introduction ...............................................................................................................................31 Historical Perspective .................................................................................................................33 Establishing Standards ............................................................................................................... 34 Family-Centered Care ................................................................................................................35 ’e Medical Home ....................................................................................................................35 Pediatric Assessment .................................................................................................................. 36 Developing the Care Plan .......................................................................................................... 37 Home Nursing/Attendant Care ................................................................................................. 40 Implementation......................................................................................................................... 42 Evaluation ................................................................................................................................. 43 Case Example ............................................................................................................................ 44 ’e Life Care Planner and the Pediatric Care Manager .............................................................. 44 Summary ....................................................................................................................................47 References ..................................................................................................................................47
case managers have the dual responsibilities of advocating for safe, cost-e•ective, and appropriate health-care services, and advocating for a child and his family in recognition of the family’s strengths and needs relative to their child’s health-care needs. Understanding these responsibilities and acting in the many roles required to e•ect the child’s e°cient movement throughout the continuum of health care and related community services are the essentials of pediatric case management. In addition to a comprehensive understanding of pediatric health conditions, a thorough knowledge of typical growth and development as well as a deviation from this pattern is essential.
