WASHINGTON (May 8, 2023)--Young adults with medical complexity are an often-overlooked high-need patient population for whom the adult health care system is not well-prepared to receive. When this population ages out of the pediatric system, their medical providers often shift from interdisciplinary care teams to individual adult primary care providers who may lack the enabling services and infrastructure needed to assure effective care.
To address these gaps in care, The George Washington University Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity and The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health/Got Transition have released a new report with recommendations to promote an increased supply and distribution of well-prepared adult primary care providers to care for the growing population of young adults with medical complexity. The report, Strengthening the Adult Primary Care Workforce to Support Young Adults with Medical Complexity Transitioning to Adult Health Care, provides background information about this population, complex care delivery models, and health care system challenges for these young adults.
The recommendations are targeted to the areas of future workforce preparation, support for the existing primary care workforce, research, payment, and coalition-building. They were developed with a national advisory committee of pediatric and adult clinicians, researchers, payers, disability organizations, and patients and family members with lived experience. “Health care professionals, families, and those with lived experience came together to devise urgently needed, actionable recommendations to improve outcomes for youth with complex needs who are transitioning to adult systems of care”, says Dr. Jeffrey Brosco, MD, PhD, Director, Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs, Maternal and Child Health Bureau and federal liaison to the advisory committee.
“Patients, their families, and pediatric providers consistently report difficulty in finding adult primary care providers able to treat a combination of chronic conditions, functional limitations, and often concurrent intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Margaret Ziemann, research scientist with GW Milken Institute School of Public Health’s Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity and lead author of the new report, said. “The recommendations in this report are targeted to the adult primary care workforce who will be treating this patient population when they move into the adult health care system. If properly supported, adult primary care physicians can play an integral role in the care of young adults with medical complexity and the management of their medical and psychosocial needs.”
Click here to read the report.