Neal deJong, MD, MPH

Neal deJong is a general pediatrician and health services researcher whose primary research interests are issues of communication, coordination, and integration of care that center on parents and other family caregivers and link the family-centered medical home with related service providers for children with chronic conditions. His early-career work evaluated systems of care for children with complex health needs and how these systems affect the quality of care that families perceive. Specific projects included examinations of how family experience of the medical home affects parents’ preferences for where to seek care when a child has multiple physicians, and of deficiencies in outpatient care for ambulatory care sensitive conditions prior to hospitalizations.

Dr. deJong’s current work focuses on coordinated care planning, enhanced communication, and clinical innovations for families and caregivers for children with chronic conditions, including a comparative effectiveness trial of two caregiver-training approaches to support adult transition and goal attainment for young people with ASD/DD, a feasibility study of implementing genomic screening into pediatric primary care, a randomized feasibility trial of a digital communication tool to enhance care coordination for children with inflammatory bowel disease, and a comparative effectiveness trial of hospital-to-home transition support interventions for children with special needs. Those projects highlight his growing expertise in developing and evaluating interventions that improve breadth and quality of services for children with special needs.