Nonemergency Acute Care Delivered Outside of the Medical Home: Policy Statement

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) affirms the medical home is the preferred location for children and adolescents to receive care for acute, nonemergency health concerns. However, some children and families use acute care services outside the medical home because of real or perceived benefits such as accessibility, convenience, additional services offered, or cost of care. Examples of acute care entities include urgent care centers, retail-based clinics, direct-to-consumer telemedicine platforms, mental health crisis services, school-based health centers, hospital care, and emergency medical services (EMS). To maintain safe, high-quality, coordinated care, pediatricians and other pediatric clinicians should understand the services available, as well as the potential benefits and limitations of different services offered in the local medical neighborhood. To align with these principles, acute care entities should adhere to core standards of continuity of care and best practices in pediatric-specific diagnosis and treatment.

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Publication Details

Journal
PEDIATRICS
Published
2026-05-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2026-077003
Primary Topic
Healthcare Policy and Management
Type
article
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0.00
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article

Nonemergency Acute Care Delivered Outside of the Medical Home: Policy Statement

David Schnadower, Carolyn Cleary, Muhammad Waseem, Joshua Nagler et al.
PEDIATRICS
Healthcare Policy and Management
article

Nonemergency Acute Care Delivered Outside of the Medical Home: Policy Statement

David Schnadower, Carolyn Cleary, Muhammad Waseem, Joshua Nagler, Ken Tegtmeyer, Mona Doss Roberts, Danielle Casher, Sylvia Owusu‐Ansah, Robin Warner, Jennifer A. Hoffmann, Jennifer Berkovich, Mohsen Saidinejad, Tomitra Latimer, Elizabeth Hawse, James McElligott, Cailly Howell-McLean, David Mathison, Section on Urgent Care Medicine, Lisa Kafer, Thuy Ngo L., Caleb Edwin Ward, Section on Emergency Medicine, Lynn Babcock, Stormee Williams R, Jennifer Johnson K., Nelson Branco, Jennifer McCain Eidson, Amy Pattishall Elizabeth, David Mathison J., Susan Duffy Jane, Anupam Kharbanda B, Jennifer Collier-Madon M., Kiyetta Alade Hanan, Brian Bowman, Andrea Weathers C., Melissa Langhan, Christian Pulcini Donald, Toni Gross Katherine, Jennifer Hoffmann Ann, Kerry Caperell Scott, Jennifer Fang Lynn, Prasanna Kumar Gangishetti, Section on Telehealth Care, Patricia Solo-Josephson A, Amanda Nedved Rachelle
article en

Abstract

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) affirms the medical home is the preferred location for children and adolescents to receive care for acute, nonemergency health concerns. However, some children and families use acute care services outside the medical home because of real or perceived benefits such as accessibility, convenience, additional services offered, or cost of care. Examples of acute care entities include urgent care centers, retail-based clinics, direct-to-consumer telemedicine platforms, mental health crisis services, school-based health centers, hospital care, and emergency medical services (EMS). To maintain safe, high-quality, coordinated care, pediatricians and other pediatric clinicians should understand the services available, as well as the potential benefits and limitations of different services offered in the local medical neighborhood. To align with these principles, acute care entities should adhere to core standards of continuity of care and best practices in pediatric-specific diagnosis and treatment.

PEDIATRICS
Northwestern University (US), George Washington University Hospital (US), George Washington University (US), Acino International (Germany) (DE), Nemours Children's Health System (US), University Children’s Hospital Bern (CH), Lurie Children's Hospital (US), Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Fresenius Medical Care (Germany) (DE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Healthcare Policy and Management
DOISourceOpenAlex
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