The Affordable Care Act, Medical Homes and Childhood Asthma: A Key Opportunity for Progress

Evidence has been mounting that the medical home model provides a unique opportunity to dramatically improve patient care, particularly for special populations, like children with complex, chronic diseases who may need support in managing their condition. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( PPACA) for the first time establishes the patient centered medical home as a matter of policy and promotes reforms to support the creation of medical homes for patients with chronic illnesses, including asthma. A recent policy brief by researchers at George Washington University titled "The Affordable Care Act, Medical Homes and Childhood Asthma: A Key Opportunity for Progress," supported by the RCHN Community  Health Foundation and Merck Childhood Asthma Network (MCAN), focuses on how the medical home model facilitates comprehensive, patient-centered care by fostering partnerships among and between patients and their providers including pediatricians and other primary care clinicians, specialists and emergency and other service providers.  This report reviews the PPACA provisions that advance the medical home concept in public and private health insurance and recommends ways to fully utilize the medical home to advance high quality treatment and effective asthma management. The report also highlights the potential role of community health centers (CHCs), one of the providers PPACA designates as a health home, in treating children with asthma. Community health centers, which play a significant role in pediatric asthma care today and will be expanded through direct investment under the Affordable Care Act, could be the front door to better disease management and provides multiple opportunities to improve outcomes for the millions of children living with asthma.