Several years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources began promoting the concept that every child in America should have a medical home. The AAP defines a medical home as the following [PDF]:
A medical home is an approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnership between patients, physicians, and families. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)believes that every child deserves a medical home, where care is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, patient- and family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. Over the past year the AAP has been at the forefront of numerous initiatives to promote the adoption and spread of the patient- and family-centered medical home.