Medical Home Campaign Overview

The Medical Home Campaign explains to parents and caregivers what a "Medical Home" is and how to use it. The campaign grew out of three goals:

1. To increase proper use of a primary care provider for preventive and primary care services.
2. To reduce inappropriate use of the emergency room for non-emergency, primary care services.
3. To assure that all families, and especially families who have children with special health care needs, establish a medical home to assure a source of continuous, comprehensive and coordinated care.

In its simplest terms, a "Medical Home" is a primary care provider's office where parents take their children for all their children's health care needs. A "Medical Home" can be a doctor's office, community clinic, or local health department. It's where the staff knows the child and the child's health history. And it's where parents can turn for advice or help in caring for their child during office hours or after-hours.

Campaign Materials

Medical Home Campaign materials are free and available by bulk order.

The Partnership

The Medical Home Campaign is a joint effort between the:

• N.C. Healthy Start Foundation
• N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Women's and Children's Health Section
• N.C. Foundation for Advanced Health Programs and their Community Care of North Carolina Initiative
• Epley Associates

History of the Term "Medical Home"

The term "Medical Home" was first used by the Children with Special Health Care Needs community. It describes health care that is accessible, family-centered, continuous, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally competent. The special needs community not only pioneered this phrase, but also the idea that this is the standard of care that physicians should provide and parents should expect.

We are indebted to the special needs community for their vision and their articulation. This campaign endeavors to make the "Medical Home" the standard of care for all of North Carolina's children.

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Last updated: March 2010