Measuring care coordination by social workers in a foster care medical home

ABSTRACT

A social worker coordinated medical care for children in foster care in a foster care medical home (FCMH) and tracked care coordination (CC) activities using a modified Care Coordination Measurement Tool© (mCCMT). Of the 60 subjects, most were younger than 5 years, and 60% had a behavioral and/or medical condition. Primary CC activities included behavioral support for families and health system navigation. The CC prevented 11 emergency department (ED) visits, 9 placement disruptions, and 42 patient privacy violations. Children assigned to a FCMH have diverse CC needs and benefit from social workers’ specialized skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Foster care
• social work
• care coordination

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Richard Antonelli MD and the National Center for Care Coordination Technical Assistance for inspiring this project. Dr. Antonelli designed the original Care Coordination Measurement Tool upon which we based our modified Care Coordination Measurement Tool. This project was also supported by the Health Share Coordinated Care Organization of Oregon, who provided guidance in assessing the needs of children in foster care in the state.

Disclosure statement

All authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose or competing interests to declare.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

Work reported in this paper was supported through Health Share Oregon.