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.