HIMSS surveyors came to Akron Children’s to see examples of how Information Systems are supporting the hospital’s moves into population health, prevention care and improving access to care.

Akron Children’s is once again the first pediatric hospital in North America to achieve the highest level of certification under the current HIMSS C-COMM model.

HIMSS Analytics, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), has informed Akron Children’s that it has successfully achieved its Community Care Outcomes Maturity Model (C-COMM) Stage-7 validation in 2026. This is the third time Akron Children’s has earned this recognition. It represents the highest level within the model and affirms Akron Children’s use of information and technology to improve community-based care, clinical outcomes, operational performance and family-centered pediatric health delivery.

“The validation reflects strong coordination across Information Services, clinical informatics, analytics, population health, behavioral health, primary care, specialty care, quality, operations and frontline clinical teams,” said Harun Rashid, chief digital information officer at Akron Children’s. “Surveyors saw how digital tools, Epic workflows and analytics supported clinical decisions, patient engagement, improved access to care, prevention, follow-up care and measurable population health outcomes.”

HIMSS surveyors came to Akron Children’s to see examples of how Information Systems are supporting the hospital’s moves into population health, prevention care and improving access to care. The surveyors learned more about the hospital’s efforts to improve access for behavioral health patients, the increased focus on social drivers of health and the role of hospital-employed nurses and nurse practitioners in schools to meet children where they are at in providing care.

Harun Rashid

Among the outcomes highlighted in the survey:

• Social drivers of health (SDOH): Screening compliance increased from 80.5% to 89.9%, exceeding the project goal and improving identification of families with social needs.
• Equity and population health: SDOH need identification increased from 14.1% to 20.5%, a 45.8% increase, supporting earlier intervention and more targeted connection to community resources.
• Behavioral health follow-up: Technology-enabled workflows helped exceed post-discharge follow-up goals, including 69% performance for seven-day follow-up against a 60% target and 97.2% performance for 30-day follow-up against a 93% target.
• Preventive care improvement: Digital workflows and quality improvement efforts supported gains in preventive metrics, including HPV vaccination improvement and asthma protocol completion reaching 84% by the end of 2025.
• Patient and family access: Online scheduling, virtual visits, MyChart, Welcome kiosks and asynchronous communication continued to expand access and make care easier for families to navigate.

“This achievement is a testament to Akron Children’s leadership and the resources, tools and people it has invested in,” said Rashid. “The dedication, innovation and teamwork of Akron Children’s clinicians, operational leaders, analysts, informaticists, Information Services teams and frontline staff collective efforts made the organization’s impact visible and reinforced Akron Children’s position as a leader in pediatric digital health and community care innovation.”