Improving Systems of Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs

When children with chronic conditions are acutely ill, they generally receive high-quality, comprehensive medical care. Once the acute stage has passed, however, families typically find that ongoing care for a child with complex needs involves a series of discontinuous, uncoordinated, and costly services and programs. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, based in Palo Alto, California, has begun to address these issues as part of its mission to increase the quality and accessibility of health care for children.