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Running Head: MEDICAL HOME PORTAL 1

Medical Home Portal: Guide to Selecting a Healthcare Provider

Maren DavisBrigham Young University

Tina HuynhUniversity of Utah

Stella RestrepoSalt Lake City, UT

Parent Representative:Jennifer BannaMissoula, MT

Faculty Mentor: Judith Holt, Ph.D.

Utah State University

Medical Home Portal Coordinator:Mindy Tueller

MEDICAL HOME PORTAL 2

Abstract

The project aimed at enhancing the Medical Home Portal website by improving the resources

available to families who have children with special health care needs through the development

of a Guide to Selecting a Healthcare Provider. The Guide contains questions designed to assist

families in eliciting general information on quality care and is based on the medical home model.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, medical homes provide “accessible,

continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally

effective” care (Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Needs Project Advisory

Committee, 2002). It is ultimately intended for the Guide to be placed on the Portal website. The

objective of the Guide is to guide families in the process of finding a suitable provider according

to their unique circumstances. The targeted domains include primary care, occupational therapy

(OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP). Families who have children

with special health care needs often seek services from these types of providers. A brief

description of the professional practice and range of care by discipline is provided, as well as

insurance and general questions that apply to all healthcare providers. The Guide questions are

based on research and subsequent surveys, distributed to families, healthcare providers, and

URLEND mentors. The aim is to provide helpful, reliable, and robust information.

Keywords: medical home, health care providers, children with special health care needs


Medical Home Portal: Guide to Selecting a Healthcare Provider

I. Introduction

A. Overview of Project

The purpose of the project was to enhance the resources for families in selecting

healthcare providers available on the Medical Home Portal website,

(www.medicalhomeportal.org).

The Medical Home Portal is a web-based resource intended to provide valuable and

relevant information about children with special health care needs to their families and

healthcare teams who care for them. The Portal includes the following sections:

· For Parents and Families- Information on caring for children with chronic conditions,

family adaptations, working with schools, transitions by age category and into adulthood

· For Physicians and other Professionals- How to implement the medical home model,

information on screening, prevention and use of technology for children with disabilities

· Services and Resources- Information on community and professional services related to

children’s health and family support; currently able to select complete services data from

two states, limited services from eight states and full data sets for three states are in

development

· Diagnoses and Conditions- Detailed information aimed at primary care clinicians on

management of 42 chronic conditions, and ten more are in development

· Newborn Disorders- Information about 35 conditions screened for in most states to enable

consistent and informed response to an abnormal newborn screening test

https://www.umail.utah.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=5D0zIsg52Uu51p_hKDxw6yQ16FAotNAIkBEsCLW-RaiNGKgxTzchi6B1ZTGP-SRnlOYnGFYLUyY.&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medicalhomeportal.org


The Portal includes information about the care of chronic conditions in children, local

services and other resources to augment care and help families. It is unique in the following

aspects:

· Targeting both families and clinicians with comprehensive and accessible information for

both audiences

· Focusing on chronic, and primarily uncommon, conditions in children

· Collating, and integrating into its content, information about community and professional

services

· Supporting dissemination of local protocols and guidelines for caring for specific

conditions

The task for our team was to create a Guide to Selecting a Healthcare Provider (the

Guide) that could be understood, and used, by families in identifying healthcare providers that

best meet their needs. The focus of the project and the Guide is on families: addressing the

concerns of those who have a recently-diagnosed child to those who have been using services for

a while but who may be searching for new and / or additional healthcare providers.

B. Rationale for project

Frequently, families with children with special health care needs are advised to seek

specific therapies and services for their children, accessing both medical and community-based

resources. Medical diagnoses can cause families to experience anxiety, confusion, and

uncertainty. The more information a family has, the more likely time and resources will be used

efficiently and families will feel more comfortable accessing resources to meet their specific

needs. Families may have different levels of experience with the resources available to them and


what exactly each provider can do for their child. The goal is that families will look to the Portal

website as a reputable resource for accessing useful and credible information about different

providers, regardless of their stage in the “search process.” More specifically, the goal is to help

families find those providers that fit the medical home model, that is: those providers that are

willing to work with other health care professionals to provide coordinated and comprehensive

care that best meets the health care needs of the child and family. A “question bank” containing

questions tailored to each provider and their services will be available to help families start

thinking about the characteristics of care that fits the medical home model. Not every question

may be applicable or necessary for every family; however, having a list of questions to choose

from will assist families in the process of finding a quality provider, having a foundation of

information and qualities to build off of and begin their search process.

C. Project Aims

1. What questions are useful to families in selecting a healthcare provider, including

a primary care provider, OT, PT, and SLP?

2. What types of questions are useful for families to ask all types of healthcare

providers?

3. What types of questions are useful for families to ask insurance providers?

II. Methodology

A. Participants

1. Project Participants

The project researchers include a team of four URLEND Program trainees. One trainee is

a parent partner, providing the patient and family perspective. The other three trainees represent

the disciplines of health administration, early childhood education, and speech-language


pathology/special education. In addition, a Medical Home Portal representative, the Portal

manager, is a participant. The survey participants include families, healthcare providers, and

faculty mentors.

2. Characteristics of Participants

The project parent partners and URLEND faculty mentors served as connections to

families and health care professionals. Input from specific professionals from the four targeted

fields (primary care, OT, PT, and SLP) was solicited.

3. Selection Criteria for Participants

Parents and caregivers who have a child with special health care needs and healthcare

professionals who provide services were involved. They were selected through URLEND family

representatives and networks.

B. Measures or Evaluation Tools

The primary tool entailed the use of an online survey to refine the questions proposed for

the Guide. (Please see Appendix A for survey questions.) The rationale for selecting these

measures is that the goal is to obtain the expertise of families and providers on what questions

are most important to them and appropriate to be asking. The surveys allowed for the validation

of substantial data saturation. The saturation of specific responses from the survey demonstrates

relevance and importance in regards to the final Guide for the Portal website.

C. Procedures

The procedures of the project included the following steps:

1. Conducting a literature search and interviewing primary care, OT, PT, and SLP

providers regarding the services they provide


2. Compiling a list of questions that families may want to ask potential healthcare

providers regarding insurance, general office practices, and specific provider approaches

to services / interventions.

3. Creating and disseminating an online pilot survey (through Surveymonkey) to solicit

family input on which questions are most relevant to the family’s concerns and the

critical issues they want to know concerning each type of provider

4. Collecting feedback from the initial pilot survey and revising the questions based on

the survey results.

5. Surveying a larger number of families using the revised survey, as well as

simultaneously obtaining feedback from healthcare providers on the questions that are

most pertinent to their specific fields

6. Collecting and analyzing feedback from the families and providers to further refine the

questions

7. Developing brief explanations to post on the Portal explaining why the questions

would be useful for families to ask in order to help them understand the purpose of these

questions)

8. Submitting each set of questions to the Portal committee for review, revision, and

approval

D. Data Analysis Procedures

The data analysis procedures centered on evaluating the data from the surveys, and then

refining the questions according to feedback. In particular, saturation level in survey data was

closely evaluated. The reason to find this point of saturation among the participants (families,

providers, faculty, etc.) was to ensure that most or all of the possible questions are meaningful

and practical for the users of the Portal. According to recent research, “for studies with a high


level of homogeneity among the population a sample of six interviews may [be] sufficient to

enable development of meaningful themes and useful interpretations" (Mason, 2010). Hence,

data saturation may take place at an early stage. The homogeneity within the families with

special health care needs refers to the general range of issues and experiences related to the

medical home model that families might encounter when seeking these particular healthcare

services. Homogeneity also applies to other pediatric health care providers (OT, PT, and SLP).

III. Results

Summary

1. Conducting a literature search and interviewing primary care, OT, PT, and SLP

providers regarding the services they provide

The members of the team interviewed professionals in each area of study. They researched

related professional associations for definitions, standards and professional best practices of each

specialty: primary care (American Academy of Pediatrics), OT (American Occupational Therapy

Association), PT (American Physical Therapy Association), and SLP (American Speech -

Language- Hearing Association). Information from advocacy organizations was also used.

2. Compiling a list of questions that families may want to ask potential healthcare

providers regarding insurance, general office practices, and specific provider

approaches to services / interventions.

After numerous meetings and discussions, the team compiled a list of questions that families

may want to ask potential healthcare providers, especially with consideration to how the

questions relate to the Medical Home Model.


3. Creating and disseminating an online pilot survey (through Surveymonkey) to solicit

family input on which questions are most relevant to the family’s concerns and the

critical issues they want to know concerning each type of provider

We found that most of the questions had been rated as being somewhat valuable to very

valuable, with minor suggestions for re-wording or providing clarification for some of the

questions. The team and Medical Home Portal Manager met and designed an online pilot survey

through Surveymonkey. The survey assessed the “value” of each question, with rankings from

“Very Valuable” to “Not at all Valuable.” The survey also collected basic demographic

information and allowed for open-ended input from participants. The team utilized different

channels to distribute the pilot survey among families with children special health care needs.

The parent partner and URLEND faculty members helped disseminate the survey among their

networks.

4. Collecting feedback from the initial pilot survey and revising the questions based on

the survey results.

The initial pilot survey was open for 10 days. A total of 15 individuals from families with special

healthcare needs participated.

5. Surveying a larger number of families using the revised survey, as well as

simultaneously obtaining feedback from healthcare providers on the questions that

are most pertinent to their specific fields

Based on this initial feedback, we decided to send out the survey in its current state to more

families, using URLEND networks and contacts among the current faculty and trainees. The link

for families was open for almost two weeks and by the end, we had a total of 30 completed

surveys. During this time we also sent out condensed surveys to Primary Care Providers (PCP),


SLPs, OTs, and PTs within the network of URLEND faculty, trainees and their colleagues.

These surveys only had the questions from the family survey that focused on the specific area of

expertise of each specific provider. We had nine OT, ten PT, seven PCP, and seven SLP provider

responses.

6. Collecting and analyzing feedback from the families and providers to further refine

the questions

The surveys for families were refined and sent to a larger number of families through the same

channels of the pilot survey, in addition to families through team member connections.

Approximately 15 more individuals participated. In addition, a separate survey for each targeted

specialty was created. A minimum of five professionals from each targeted healthcare field

participated, including URLEND faculty and previous URLEND trainees.

7. Developing brief explanations to post on the Portal explaining why the questions

would be useful for families to ask in order to help them understand the purpose of

these questions)

Due to time restraints, this step was not completed. However, it can be a future direction for the

Portal or URLEND leadership project.

8. Submitting each set of questions to the Portal committee for review, revision, and

approval

The questions were given to the Portal manager. The Portal committee plans to place the Guide

questions on the Portal website.


< 6 months

7-12 months

1-2 years 3-5 years 5+ years0

5

10

15

20

25

How long families have been aware of their child's special

healthcare needs

Num

ber o

f Fam

ilies

Figure 1. Family responses from the 30 completed family surveys.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 171

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Value of Insurance Questions

Corresponding Question Number on Survey

Figure 2. Family responses from the 30 completed family surveys. 1= Not at all valuable,

2= Not very valuable, 3= Somewhat valuable, 4= Very Valuable.


20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 481

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Value of General Provider Questions




51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 631

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Value of Physical/Occupational Therapy Provider Questions





66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 821

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Value of Speech-Language Therapy Provider Questions




85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 961

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Value of Primary Care Provider Questions


Figure 6. Family responses from the 30 completed family surveys. 1= Not at all valuable, 2= Not very valuable, 3= Somewhat valuable, 4= Very Valuable.


Table 1 Family responses for which providers they were seeing for their child with special health care

needs. The numbers in the table are the totals from 30 completed family surveys.

Number of Families Seeing These Different Service Providers for the Care of Their Child with Special Health Care NeedsNeurologist/Neuro-Surgeon 13Gastroenterologist 6Optometrist 3Physiatrist 2Orthotist 2Pulmonologist 2Audiologist 4ENT 6Occupational therapist 15Physical therapist 16Speech-Language therapist 18Geneticist 1Orthopedics/ Orthopedic Surgeon 8Cardiologist 3Nephrologist 1Psychiatrist 2Child development specialist 1Vision specialist 1Sign-language interpreter 1Plastic Surgeon 1Behaviorist 2Hippotherapy Provider 3None 1


IV. Discussion

A. Discussion of findings in relation to project aim

We determined from the 30 completed family surveys that the questions for the different

providers and insurance companies were found to be mostly valuable by those that took the

survey. We received several comments throughout the process of the project that the questions

were making them think of additional questions that they hadn’t thought of on their own. We met

our project aim of determining the value of different kinds of questions for families with children

with special health care needs.

B. Implications of findings, including limitations

The information from the surveys is being passed on to the Medical Home Portal team to

implement on their website, creating a menu of questions from the Guide to choose from. This

will help families who either have options in their area or can be selective based on their

insurance coverage. However, it can also benefit those families that only have one provider

option, to know what qualities and characteristics they want to be pursuing and advocating for.

For example, it may help them decide if it is worth driving further to see another provider that

better fits their needs.

Throughout the process we had some interesting responses that further justified the value

and purpose for completing this project, as it showed that there was confusion among different

individuals about what is involved in selecting a quality provider.

Some of the limitations we had during our project included not having enough time to

translate the surveys to reach the Hispanic-community, having a small number of families

complete the survey, and simply the nature of the survey: asking questions about questions for

multiple providers that led to a long survey to complete.


Even if the families ask the providers certain questions and find the provider does not fit

the medical home model they were hoping for, a future related project would be to include

additional resources on the Portal website to guide families in “what to do next” to get the kind

of care they desire. It may also be nice to include an explanation for why some of the questions

may be important to ask, explaining some of the situations that may arise where having that

information would be beneficial.

These resources may include ways to help the provider implement accommodations or

suggest what families should understand to get the needs of their child met. Asking these

questions to providers will also inform the providers of what their patients and clients are most

interested in, perhaps making them more inclined to provide such services under the medical

home model.

Although it is not included in this project, the Guide can also be expanded in the future to

show its application by including video examples on the Portal website. The videos could

demonstrate parents using the Guide questions while choosing providers, showing them asking

the questions from the Guide to the specific providers either in their selection process or to

identify characteristics they would seek out in providers if they had a choice.

Hopefully, in the future, the Portal website will include questions for families to use in

selecting other providers, both health care and non-health care related.


References

Mason, M. (2010). Sample Size and Saturation in PhD Studies Using Qualitative Interviews.

Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11(3).

Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1428

Michaud, L. J. (2004). Prescribing Therapy Services for Children with Motor Disabilities.

Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 113(6). Retrieved from

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/6/1836.full.pdf%5D%20%20Michaud

%20LJ.


Appendix A

The following is the link to the initial pilot survey sent to families:https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Print.aspx?sm=cGtC%2bIWOIPJ%2b3RonwC4kWQcLHG%2fSxLrljug3x1Faxoc%3d

The following is the format of the survey:

The following are the remainder of the questions asked in the same format as above: 8. What documentation does my provider need to submit to demonstrate medical

necessity for the services?9. Are there any types of services provided by a physical therapist, occupational

therapist or speech-language therapist that are not covered regardless of medical

https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Print.aspx?sm=cGtC%2BIWOIPJ%2B3RonwC4kWQcLHG%2FSxLrljug3x1Faxoc%3D

https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Print.aspx?sm=cGtC%2BIWOIPJ%2B3RonwC4kWQcLHG%2FSxLrljug3x1Faxoc%3D


necessity?10. What is my deductible and has it been met?11. What is the coverage amount per therapy session?12. What amount would I need to pay for each session?13. How many sessions per year does my health insurance cover?14. Is an insurance authorization or pre-certification required?15. Do I have to use certain providers? If so, where can I locate the list of approved

providers? 16. If I have yearly limits, when does my year start and end?17. Where can I find a copy of my policy that defines my child’s benefits for this type of

therapy?18. How would you re-word any of the above questions?19. What additional questions would you want answered from your insurance

company?Ranking General Provider Questions

20. What are your hours of operation?21. Do you have appointments available after-hours?22. Is help available for on-call or emergency services? 23. Do you accept ________insurance? (fill in the name of your insurance company)24. Do you allow a sliding payment scale for those without insurance?25. Do you have a cash discount?26. Do you accept payments?27. Do you have charity care or third party payment plans?28. Do you accept Medicaid?29. Are translation services available if needed? 30. Is there someone on your staff who is fluent in a language besides English? (If so,

what languages?)31. Do you provide transportation services?32. How close to the bus/train stop is your facility?33. Which bus stop is closest to your clinic?34. Is your facility wheelchair accessible?35. Are the rooms able to accommodate a wheelchair?36. How do you weigh a child in a wheelchair?37. What do you do to help the child be less likely to get illnesses from other children

who are sick?38. Do you have separate areas for both well children and sick children?39. What experiences have you had with (insert diagnosis)?40. What is your comfort level in working with (insert diagnosis)?41. It usually takes more time to treat a person with complex illnesses, are you able to

accommodate that?42. Does your practice have rules or guidelines about parent participation and

observation?43. Are siblings or other family members welcome during sessions?44. What age ranges do you serve? (ie: specialize in pediatrics/school-age or adolescents,

etc.)45. How will you handle the transition of my child as they grow and eventually become


an adult?46. Do you have equipment to work with children?47. How much of your business is children based?48. What are your degree and certifications, and from what issuing institutions?

49. How would you re-word any of the above questions?50. What additional questions would you want answered from your insurance

Ranking Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy Provider Questions51. What are the responsibilities of my family throughout therapy?52. Do you do home-based therapy, clinic-based therapy or both?53. How will you communicate and interact with the school or other services so we can coordinate care?54. Describe strategies or techniques you use in your practice that have evidence to support their effectiveness.55. What role do the assistants or technicians/aides play in the therapy?56. Do you have equipment that I can check out?57. Can I observe a therapy session with another child who has a similar disability/condition or goals as my child?58. What is your process for setting goals for my child?59. Do you provide one-on-one therapy, group therapy, or both, depending on my child’s needs? 60. How often will you assess and communicate with me about my child’s progress?61. How will you assess my child before we begin therapy?62. As my child gets older, how will therapy change?63. Will you be able to see my child as an adult?

64. How would you re-word any of the above questions?65. What additional questions would you want answered from your physical and/ or occupational therapist?

Ranking Speech-Language Therapy Provider Questions66. Do you have a specific focus area of treatment? (ie: articulation, swallowing, voice, etc.)67. Would you see my child in their home, at the clinic, or both?68. What role do the assistants or technicians/aides play in the speech-language therapy?69. How will you communicate with the school or other services so we can coordinate care?70. How will you test my child’s speech and language development? 71. How often will you check/update me on my child’s progress?72. What communication option(s) do you use in therapy, and how comfortable are you with them (ie: ASL, Cued speech, Auditory-verbal, etc)?73. Do you use any augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices as part of your therapy options?74. If AAC devices are part of therapy, how can I have access to such device(s) outside of therapy time to continue to use with my child?75. Can I observe a speech therapy session with another child who has a similar disability or goals as my child?76. What are your expectations and responsibilities of our family throughout therapy?77. Do you have equipment that I can check out?


78. What is your process for setting goals for my child?79. Describe strategies or techniques do you use in your practice that have evidence to support their effectiveness?80. Do you provide one-on-one therapy, group therapy, or both, depending on my child’s needs?81. How will therapy change as my child gets older?82. Will you still be able to see my child as an adult?

83. How would you re-word any of the above questions?84. What additional questions would you want answered from your speech-language therapist?

Ranking Primary Care (Pediatrician/Family) Provider Questions85. How easy is it to get in touch with the provider and nurses?86. Does the provider use email? 87. What managed-care programs does the doctor participate in?88. If my child should ever develop a complex illness that necessitates the care of one or more specialists, will the provider coordinate care among all the doctors and providers?89. Is the office staff friendly and helpful?90. Do you prefer a provider whose communication style is friendly and warm, or more formal?91. Do you prefer a provider focused on disease treatment, or wellness and prevention?92. Does the provider have a conservative or aggressive approach to treatment?93. Does the provider order a lot of tests?94. Does the provider refer to other specialists frequently or infrequently?95. Does the practice have a care coordinator, case manager or social worker?96. Does the practice follow the Medical Home Model?

97. How would you re-word any of the above questions?98. What additional questions would you want answered from your primary care (pediatrician/family) provider?

99. Is there anything else that would have been helpful to consider when choosing a provider for your child with special healthcare needs?100. Were there any problems you encountered along the way? (such as insurance not covering providers, limited options in the area where you live, etc.)101. Do you have any advice for other families as they are selecting providers?

The following links were sent to the respective providers within URLEND faculty, trainees, their colleagues, and other connections among group members OT: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-OT-providersPT: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-PT-providersSLT: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-Speech-providersPCP: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-PC-providers

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-PC-providers

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-Speech-providers

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-PT-providers

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/URLEND-OT-providers


Appendix BThe following are the responses from the ‘additional comments’ section of the 30 completed

family surveys.

Suggestions for questions for SLP Provider questions

Can you explain what some of the AAC devices are?Can I check out equipment of educational materials?What type of AAC devices are available for my child to try? If we choose an AAC device, how does one go about getting one?

Suggestions for questions for PT/OT Provider questions

What is your specific experience as a therapist?What will a specific session look like?Are there any specific examples why we would terminate therapy?If you also provide service to adults, do you have different equipment specifically for your child clients?Do you have experience with a child whose diagnosis and abilities are similar to my child’s?Do you support parents in carrying out home-based therapy in addition to 1-2-3x weekly sessions with you?

Suggestions for questions for General Provider questions

Children with special needs are probably less likely to use public transportation, so those questions were not very feasible.Do you accept payment plans? From what issuing bodies or institutions?What kind of bathroom facilities do you offer for a handicap and/or older child with incontinence?Reword: What are your days and hours of operation? (Q20)Reword: Will my main doctor see me after hours or during hospitalizations or will I be referred to a new doctor on call?(Q22)If out of state/city, can you recommend lodging or do you have a discount plan with a nearby lodging establishment?Can I tour your facility or space? Can I observe a session?

Suggestions for questions for Primary Care Provider questions

Reword: Explain the Medical Home ModelWhat is the on call process when my provider is out of the office?Have they had a patient with a diagnosis similar to my child’s?Do you have experience helping tube dependent children wean from a feeding tube?Do you take parents’ information about the child into consideration?Can I submit a claim for payment if my provider doesn’t?


Suggestions for questions for Insurance Providers

** Add something about Medicare coverage…** One response that #9 was confusing…What is the process to have genetic testing covered?Does insurance reimburse for gas mileage for long-distance trips to see specialists?What other types of items (such as diapers) will the insurance pay for special needs children?How long does it take to receive prior authorization once submitted?Are there diagnoses that would prevent covering these therapies?What is the appeal process?Do you cover out-of-state providers?Do you cover intensive therapy (2+ hours daily for one or more weeks?)Do you cover the cost of the equipment needed to carry out the therapy (ie: braces, splints, etc)?What specialty therapies are covered (ie: aquatic therapy, hippotherapy)?

These were responses to the last question asking for additional comments from the 30 completed family surveys:

Additional input when choosing a provider:

1. Having help navigating the complex system and requirements2. Limited options in the area was an obstacle 3. Limited knowledge of complex needs by the providers4. Insurance not covering the provider5. Facility charges

Suggestions for families:

1. Choose a provider you and your child are comfortable with. Work along with them in caring for your child

2. Be an active participant and ask lots of questions. 3. Get recommendations from other families with children with special health care needs. 4. Make sure any specialty or visiting doctors are covered by your insurance.


Appendix C

The following are descriptions of different healthcare providers available on the Medical Home Portal website: www.medicalhomeportal.org that will be linked with the Guide questions to help families that are not as familiar with what services are available from each provider.

Speech/Language Therapy (under “Health care related services”)By: Brandalyn Chidsey

Description

Long: Speech-language therapy includes services for children with speech, language, feeding, and swallowing disorders. In therapy, a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) will identify your child’s unique needs, work together with other professionals such as teachers and doctors, and provide interventions and treatments that will help meet your child’s specific needs. An SLP can work with a child one-on-one, in a small group, in a classroom, or sometimes in the home to overcome difficulties involved with a specific disorder. In this category, you will find local programs and hospitals that provide services for children and adults to help improve their ability to produce and understand the different aspects of language.

Brief: Speech-language therapy helps children and adults improve their ability to produce and understand many aspects of language including speech, listening, swallowing, memory, and comprehension.

Key words: speech, language, therapy, words, speaking, speak

Categorization check

Expected services: list of local providers that speech and language services for children with special health care needs

Actual services: mainly lists of hospitals that do not give direct contacts or ways to obtain services. Also some local clinics that provide services.

Overlap:

Recurring themes among these service providers

*all of the intermountain services go to a site that does not list any providers or description of SL services. This might be a more appropriate site: http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/pediatricrehab/About/Pages/st.aspx.

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/pediatricrehab/About/Pages/st.aspx

http://www.medicalhomeportal.org/


Physical Therapy (under “Health care related services”)By: Brandalyn Chidsey


Expected services: hospital, school, and private physical therapists in Utah

Actual services: hospitals and private PTs

Overlap: none that I noticed

Description

Long: Physical therapy provides children and youth who have special health care needs with evaluation, education, intervention, and equipment to help them gain mobility and physical abilities. The treatments provided by a physical therapist help individuals develop and acquire skills or adaptive skills necessary to achieve their highest level of function. Physical therapists work not only with individuals who have developmental delay and disabilities, but also in the areas of trauma, orthopedics, pain management, and a variety of medical diagnoses. In this category, you will find physical therapists in local hospitals, clinics, and private centers that can provide assessment and therapy for your child.

Brief: Physical therapy helps children and youth with special health care needs develop and acquire skills to increase their mobility and physical abilities.

Key words: physical therapy, PT, physical therapist,

Recurring themes among these service providers (Step C): Many are hospital PT in the intermountain system


Occupational Therapy (under “Health care related services”)By: Brandalyn Chidsey

Description

Long: Occupational therapy (OT) helps children, adolescents, and adults with physical and developmental conditions develop and maintain skills needed for daily living and working. A certified occupational therapist helps identify individual goals, such as self-care, and to create a customized program to help the individual perform the desired tasks. Occupational therapy interventions can potentially focus on altering the individual’s environment, modifying a task, teaching a skill, and educating the patient and family to increase participation in and performance of daily activities. In this category, you will find programs and hospitals that provide services for individuals of all ages to help improve their skills for daily living.

Brief: Occupational therapy helps individuals of all ages who have physical, developmental, and emotional conditions develop and maintain skills needed for daily living and working.

Key words: occupational therapy, skills, self-care, functional, daily skills, rehab, rehabilitation


Expected services: local programs for children looking for occupational therapy

Actual services: hospitals, private programs, public schools and outpatient rehab centers that provide OT services

Overlap: Courage Reins riding center, I believe is more recreational therapy??

Recurring themes among these service providers

*all of the intermountain services go to a site that does not list any providers or description of OT services. This might be a more appropriate site: http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/pediatricrehab/About/Pages/ot.aspx.

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/pediatricrehab/About/Pages/ot.aspx


Primary Care Provider

Description

A primary care provider (PCP) is usually a doctor, family practitioner, pediatrician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner who is specifically trained for and skilled in first contact with patients and can provide continuing care for those with common medical problems, symptoms, or health concerns. They provide care in non-emergency and non-life-threatening situations. Primary care covers several domains, including the following: health promotion, disease prevention, health maintenance, counseling, patient education, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in a variety of health care settings (e.g., office, inpatient, critical care, long-term care, home care, day care, etc.). The PCP makes referrals, as needed, to medical specialists for specific cases.


Acknowledgements

Our URLEND team would like to acknowledge the support, input, and time offered by

the various individuals affiliated with the Medical Home Portal website and the Utah Regional

Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (URLEND) faculty and trainees. We

would like to recognize the Medical Home Portal Management Team who provided guidance

and support throughout this project, specifically Mindy Tueller, as well as Gina Pola-Money.

Finally, we wish to acknowledge the support of the faculty mentors involved in the development

of this project and paper including Judith Holt, PhD; Terry Pavia, PhD; Blake Hansen, PhD; and

Eduardo Ortiz, PhD., J.D.

urlend.orgurlend.org/.../papers/Medical_Home_Portal_Final.docx · Web viewPlastic Surgeon. 1. ......

Documents

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