Building Systems That Work for Children With Complex Health Care Needs: Editor's Note.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: CMC — : children with medical complexity We are pleased to present a supplement to Pediatrics entitled “Building Systems That Work for Children with Complex Health Care Needs.” These articles are based on a symposium sponsored by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, which gathered families, providers, payers, advocates, and policy makers to discuss the key issues facing children with medical complexity (CMC). Traditionally, systems design initiatives have been focused on children with special health care needs, defined as “those who have 1 or more chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally”1 This conference is focused on CMC, a growing subpopulation of children with special health care needs whose care is singularly challenging to health systems. CMC are defined as those with severe chronic conditions, functional limitations, family-identified needs, and resource utilization.2,3 The symposium, conducted in December 2015 in Washington, District of Columbia, was an intensive although short (1.5 days) gathering of experts and thought leaders in the field of pediatric complex care. Critical issues from the viewpoint of many experts and stakeholder groups were identified. Several broad themes emerged from the conference.4 First, the needs of CMC are insufficiently addressed in national health reform discussions, in which care … Address correspondence to Rishi Agrawal, MD, MPH, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: ragrawal{at}luriechildrens.org