Emerging Practice

Partners in Care: Together for Kids

State/Jurisdiction: Florida
Setting: Clinical
Population: CYSHCN Families & Caregivers
Topic Area: Care Coordination
NPMs: NPM 11: Medical Home NPM 15: Adequate Insurance

Due to advances in technology and early screening, children with life-limiting conditions are living longer and often times are not receiving comprehensive health care to meet their physical and emotional needs. In July 2005, Florida’s Partners in Care: Together for Kids (PIC:TFK) program for children with life-limiting illnesses was created. Prior to the establishment of the PIC:TFK program, children with life-limiting illnesses received hospice care under the Medicare model. Because the life span of a child with a life-limiting illness is difficult to predict and the specific factors associated with childhood illnesses may require treatment up to the time of death, the Medicare model of hospice care is inappropriate for a pediatric population. PIC:TFK is the first publicly-financed health program for children in the nation that utilizes a pediatric palliative care model which integrates palliative with curative or life-prolonging therapies. PIC:TFK is based on the Children’s Hospice International Program for All-Inclusive Care for Children and their Families national model of pediatric palliative care which strives to provide a “continuum of care for children and families from the time that a child is diagnosed with a life-threatening condition, with hope for a cure, through the bereavement process, if cure is not attained”.


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Implementation Handout
Program Brochure


CONTACT INFORMATION
Florida Health
Florida Health
health@flhealth.gov

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