The  National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs documents that chronically ill children and youth (CYSHN) often have inadequate health care insurance, are disproportionately of minority status, and often receive care at institutions unequipped to provide a medical home for the chronically ill.

With the majority of our patients either on TennCare coverage or having no insurance, and an estimated 51 percent of our patients having minority status, Mercy is in a unique position to access these children.

MCC has documented that the majority of our current patient population suffers from chronic illness, including:

• Genetic Disorders
• Immunodeficiency
• Childhood Cancer
• Diabetes I & II
• Asthma
• Seizure Disorder
• Cerebral Palsy
• Obesity
• IBD
• Bipolar Disease
• Congenital Heart Disease
• Sickle Cell Disease
• Depression
• ADHD
• Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Although MCC has been caring for CYSHN for many years, MCC formerly launched an innovative Medical Home for Chronic Care (MHCC) on November 3, 2008. MCC is in the process of identifying and enrolling CYSHN patients (currently 300+enrolled) for proactive disease management by a dedicated team of pediatricians, a disease manager, a psychiatrist, case managers, social workers, and subspecialty service providers.

To use a metaphor, MCC functions as a “general contractor” to coordinate all the necessary care provided by MCC and subspecialists to CYSHN. As the care coordinator to each child/youth with a chronic condition, MCC will ensure that every CYSHN is fully diagnosed and all aspects of requisite treatment are provided by a coordinated group of providers within and outside of MCC.

MCC’s Medical Home for Chronic Care focuses on the following four tenets to provide outstanding care to CYSHN:

• Comprehensive Care
• Coordinated Care
• Continuous and Accessible Care
• Compassionate, Family-centered, and Culturally Effective Care.