Special Medical Services (SMS) provides leadership in building and promoting a community-based system of services that is family centered, comprehensive, coordinated and culturally competent.  SMS places the highest priority on integrating public and private health services with education, social services, mental health, and family support programs by providing direct services, enabling services, population-based services, and infrastructure-building services, in keeping with current best practices in the public health field.

Special Medical Services provides medical and financial services to children with special health care needs (CSHCN).  Children with special health care needs are those who have, or are at increased risk for, chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions, which require health and related services of a type beyond that required by children generally.

Special Medical Services provides NH families with health information and support services for themselves, and helps them obtain specialty health care services for their eligible children with physical disabilities, chronic illnesses and special health care needs.  SMS also provides care coordination services; support for child development and neuromotor clinics; nutritional and feeding/swallowing consultation; psychological and physical therapy services; and support for the NH Family Voices and Parent-to-Parent programs.

The Catastrophic Illness Program (CIP) for adults is also administered by SMS.  The CIP provides services to adults with cancer, end stage renal disease, cystic fibrosis, spinal cord injuries, hemophilia, and multiple sclerosis, who require extensive medical treatment and are in need of financial assistance.