A National Resource Center is Not the Answer to Better Health Care for Special Needs Kids
From 1999 to 2000, staff at the HSC Foundation conducted a study to determine the feasibility of a proposed national resource center that would assist children with disabilities and their families in overcoming obstacles to receiving health care and other needed services.
Key Findings
- Parents and providers have no central source of information on health care and services for children with special needs.
- Health care and other services for children with disabilities are fragmented.
- There is a lack of communication between and within agencies and organizations that serve these children.
- Low reimbursement rates frequently result in a shortage of providers willing to care for special needs children.
Key Recommendations
- Funding for services should be funneled through a single entity, such as a managed care organization, which would provide parents of special needs children with a single point of contact and would monitor and coordinate utilization of services.
Key Results
- As a result of the study, investigators abandoned their goal of creating a national resource center for special needs children and their families.