The Beacon Program at Children’s Mercy provides a pediatric medical home for hundreds of children with medical complexity. Our team streamlines the health care process for parents with at least one child with medical complexity, from birth to 21 years.

Children who come to our program typically have been diagnosed with complex, systemic, medical problems and use mechanical devices to treat their conditions. Complex or systemic medical problems can include:

• Cerebral palsy

• Neurodegenerative disease

• Neuromuscular disease

Beacon program staff

Families in the Beacon Program are cared for by a comprehensive medical team. Each family is seen by a primary care provider. The primary care provider works with a team of medical specialists, nurse practitioners, social workers, clinical service coordinators, case managers, registered dietitians and allied health providers to create care plans to meet each child’s unique needs and provide ongoing support for family members.

• Our program is designed to maximize health outcomes for the more than 275 children we serve. We create custom care plans for each child and family.

• We provide 24/7 access to a primary care provider who is a member of the Beacon team to discuss questions and concerns with a goal of reducing unnecessary emergency department visits.

• Families experience greater satisfaction with the health care system because our team works with all specialists involved in the patient’s care and community providers.

• Our program also cares for the siblings of the enrolled medically complex child. This offers each family one medical home for all their children.

• The Beacon Program has achieved the highest level of recognition possible from the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a patient-centered medical home. To achieve level III recognition, the Beacon Clinic met or exceeded rigorous patient-centered medical home standards for addressing patient needs.