The Minnesota Pediatric Care Coordination Community of Practice: Why we started and where we are today

Full Description: In our workshop, we’ll introduce The Minnesota Pediatric Care Coordination: Community of Practice, a statewide resource that provides a way for people who manage care for kids and youth with special needs to network, collaborate, share, and learn from each other. We’ll then facilitate exercises for participants to work through how to strengthen or create a community of practice where they live. We hope participants will leave our workshop with concrete steps to shape the future of care coordination in their community that results in better and more coordinated care of kids with special needs.
The Community of Practice stemmed from a 2015 needs assessment that mapped care coordination in Minnesota. Findings revealed a desire for better collaboration between professionals who manage care for kids with special needs. Care coordination is an important function of the patient and family-centered medical home, and care teams can provide optimal coordination and integration of services needed by the child and family. Relationships between the health care provider, the care coordination team, and the patient and family facilitate effective information sharing, goal setting, care planning and follow-up support.
Our goals are threefold:
1. Create an engaging online community of practice (www.mnpedcares.com) for professionals who manage care for children and youth with special needs in Minnesota to meet, teach, learn, and encourage one another in supporting care coordination for the pediatric population in Minnesota.
2. Address the isolation of professionals who manage care across the state by developing regional networks, as well as a statewide network, that gathers regularly.
3. Collect, develop, and share best practices in care coordination for pediatrics through peer sharing, meaningful engagement and evaluation, and hosting of national and state leaders.
Who’s involved: Our nearly 450 members live across Minnesota and work in different settings, including hospitals/clinics, schools, county governments, and community-based organizations. Some of our members are caregivers of kids with special needs.
What we’ve learned: We’ve learned that professionals who manage care for kids with special needs value our resources and trainings. They became members to learn new information, and many have connected with others in the field. We gather feedback to understand what members want to learn more about and in what formats (e.g., webinars, e-blasts). This feedback shapes our offerings so that we can remain responsive to the field. Ultimately, we hope that our Community of Practice helps shape the future of care coordination in Minnesota, resulting in better and more coordinated care of kids with special needs.

Abbreviated Description: In our workshop, we’ll introduce The Minnesota Pediatric Care Coordination: Community of Practice, a statewide resource that provides a way for people who manage care for kids and youth with special needs to network, collaborate, share, and learn from each other. We’ll then facilitate exercises for participants to work through how to strengthen or create a community of practice where they live. We hope participants will leave our workshop with concrete steps to shape the future of care coordination in their community that results in better and more coordinated care of kids with special needs.