“The greatest predictor of a child’s health should not be his or her zip code.”
Pediatric Practice of the Future
Pediatric care represents a tremendous opportunity to improve children’s health and well-being—infants come to primary care 6 times in the first year of life alone, and pediatric providers develop longitudinal relationships with families. But to best care for children and families, we must re-design our care delivery to actively partner both other health care providers (like adult medicine, obstetrics-gynecology and psychiatry), educators and community organizations; develop novel programs; and bring the best of existing evidence into our daily practice.
The Center, in collaboration with BMC Pediatrics Primary Care is creating the Pediatric Practice of the Future that:
- Empowers families to define their health priorities and design their own care
- Provides care to the family
- Provides new opportunities to promote social and emotional child health
- Develops deeper community partnerships
- Leverages technology to provide flexible care options and facilitate communication
- Re-thinks the composition and roles of care team members
Healthy and Ready to Learn by 5
The Center has set a goal that by 2028, all children seen in BMC Pediatrics will be healthy, ready to learn, with adequate support to thrive by age five. Focus on this age group enables:
- Emphasis on bi-generational wellness
- Connection with other child serving agencies
- Focus on formational time for life course health
- National momentum within Medicaid around early childhood and school readiness
- Sector with most reach during this time period
- Investment in early childhood promotes health across the life course