Designing Evaluation Studies of Care Coordination Outcomes for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

Nationwide, there is growing interest in the use of care coordination as an integral component of comprehensive, quality care provided within the medical home model for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). A broad range of stakeholders – family members, advocates, state Title V Children with Special Health Care Needs program staff, health insurers, and providers – have expressed a need to the Catalyst Center to be able to evaluate the benefits of investing in care coordination. The purpose of this policy brief is to help provide some guidance in thinking through the requirements for doing so.