Activate Care, a national provider of team-based care coordination technology and services, today announced a collaboration with University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital to improve systems of care for children and youth with special health-care needs (CYSHCN).
More than 150,000 Iowa children and youth have special health care needs including chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, and emotional concerns. These needs often impact the entire family and can require the involvement of multiple service systems. The Division of Child and Community Health in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics is developing a Shared Plan of Care template and protocol to be used in coordinating care across systems for these children and families.
“Iowa has a long and proud tradition of meeting the health needs of children across the state,” said Thomas Scholz, MD, Director, Division of Child and Community Health. “This collaboration between community-based providers, UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, and Activate Care is a wonderful step forward for longitudinal care planning that we believe will improve care coordination for our children with complex health and social needs.”
Using Activate Care’s secure platform, care teams in Iowa will follow a process of family-centered, team-based care coordination to jointly develop Shared Plans of Care (SPoC) with input from families, care coordinators, school personnel, and clinicians. Each SPoC will centralize the child’s health needs, including family and care team goals, and will outline a plan for achieving these goals and strengthening care coordination.
“Promoting children’s health requires an approach to services that recognizes the importance of family, school, and community,” said Drew Martinez, MPA, Program Coordinator, Division of Child and Community Health. “Shared care planning will make a real difference in the lives of Iowa’s children with medical complexity and their families.”
“Implementing modern care plans requires skilled people, strong processes, and the right tools to help care teams engage families in the process,” said Ted D. Quinn, Activate Care CEO and Co-founder. “Iowa’s care teams are committed to engaging families, and Activate Care is committed to helping them manage these complex tasks while helping families achieve their health goals.”
Child Health Specialty Clinics (CHSC), a community-based public health agency that serves Iowa’s CYSHCN, in association with UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, is the lead partner in this project. CHSC administers the Iowa Maternal and Child Title V program for CYSHCN, ensuring that all Iowa CYSHCN receive services in a comprehensive System of Care.
About Activate Care®
With Activate Care, everyone - clinicians, patients, families, and communities - can act together to make health happen, wherever they are.Activate CareHub™ promises a better, safer, less expensive, and more flexible approach to managing healthcare’s complex tasks and achieving your goals. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., Activate Care is privately held and venture-funded by the disruptive innovation investment firm, Rose Park Advisors. For more information, visit http://www.act.md.
