From my Viewpoint article in JAMA Pediatrics (gated, but write me for the typescript if you can’t get past it). My colleague Kelly Kelleher and I discuss how the Institute of Medicine‘s design for a ‘learning healthcare system’ (LHCS) applies to children’s healthcare.
A pediatric LHCS practices measurement-based care defined by a comprehensive model for child well-being. Guided by that model, it will be concerned with preventive health and child development, and must take an active role in promoting a healthy community for children. A pediatric LHCS will therefore be unlike either an adult LHCS, which is oriented to the health needs of adults, or most traditional managed care organizations, which have been driven primarily by strategies for cost-saving.
