A High-Performing System for Well-Child Care: A Vision for the Future

Standardization of well-child care services is intended to ensure that families receive core services and key information. But standardization also encourages a “one-size-fits-all” approach that subjects many families to unnecessary office visits. At the same time, many children at risk for physical, developmental, or behavioral problems fail to get needed services due to time and resource constraints. This report presents a vision for a high performing system of well-child care and a guide for future policy and research efforts. Based on their extensive research, the authors conclude that an ideal system would be characterized by advanced access to services, teambased care, individualized developmental and behavioral screening, care coordination through a medical home, electronic health records, and tools for information and knowledge transfer. Some reforms are ready to be implemented, while others would require additional resources, new technology, and/or policy changes. Support for this research was provided by The Commonwealth Fund. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Commonwealth Fund or its directors, officers, or staff. This report and other Fund publications are available online at www.cmwf.org. To learn more about new publications when they become available, visit the Fund’s Web site and register to receive e-mail alerts. Commonwealth Fund pub. no. 959. iii CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures iv About the Authors v Executive Summary v