Connecticut Children's Medical Center - Connecticut Children's Center for Care Coordination

Overview

Since Connecticut Children’s Medical Center opened in 1996, they have advanced care coordination for patients through the Connecticut Children’s Center for Care Coordination (CCC). Recently, with support from the Connecticut Children’s Office for Community Child Health, the CCC expanded its focus from solely serving children with complex health care needs to also serving children with developmental and behavioral health concerns, and those who are at risk because of poverty and other social determinants of health.

The CCC links families to community resources that support the overall health and development of children. It is also committed to identifying gaps in services and developing innovative programs to address them. This is evidenced by the CCC’s signature Care Coordination Collaborative Model (the Model), which brings efficiency and effectiveness to a local network of care coordinators from diverse sectors by “coordinating the care coordinators.”

Another key innovation is the CCC’s Enhanced Care Coordination program that offers children in behavioral health crisis care coordination services upon their discharge from the emergency department (ED) to both 1) help them connect to community-based behavioral or mental health services, and 2) decrease future ED visits.

Impact

Since 2009, the CCC has screened nearly 12,500 children for unmet health, developmental, and social needs. Of those screened, the CCC connected 8,029 children to health and community services. The Model is also having a powerful impact. In the six years since the Model’s inception, the Collaborative has grown to include 26 state and community agencies, including the United Way of Connecticut and Medicaid, who gather monthly to support children and families. This collaborative approach prompted the Connecticut Department of Public Health to fund the statewide replication of the Model, with technical assistance from the CCC. It is also being replicated across the country through the Help Me Grow® National Center.

Lessons Learned

The CCC learned the importance of strengthening connections with pediatric primary care physicians and community agencies to build efficient processes for coordinating care. Through continuous monitoring of care coordination activities, the CCC has recognized the critical role of data in measuring linkage processes and outcomes. CCC leaders also now appreciate the value of documenting the process used for statewide replication.

Future Goals

The CCC’s goals include ensuring care coordination support for all children and families, especially those at risk for poor outcomes; enhancing the care coordination capacity of practitioners and their practices; and enabling care coordination both within and across all sectors critical to supporting families in promoting their children’s healthy development.

Contact: Paul Dworkin, M.D.
Executive Vice President, Community Child Health
Telephone: 860-837-6228
Email: pdworki@connecticutchildrens.org