Akron Children's Health Collaborative: Partnering with patients and providers to improve child health
The Akron Children’s Health Collaborative (ACHC) makes healthcare more accessible and affordable for your family. We partner with pediatric healthcare providers throughout northeast Ohio and contract directly with Medicaid managed care organizations and commercial payors to offer high-quality care at a lower cost.
As a leader in value-based pediatric healthcare, Akron Children’s recognizes that health inequities still exist, and a different model of coordinated care is necessary to deliver our mission of improving child health outcomes.
To address this need, we have created the Akron Children’s Health Collaborative (ACHC), a provider-led, pediatric accountable care organization (pediatric ACO) in northeast Ohio designed to improve child health by working with a network of pediatric providers and specialists to offer high quality pediatric care at a lower cost. We do this by contracting directly with Medicaid managed care organizations and commercial payors to deliver value-based care for children.
The mission of the Akron Children’s Health Collaborative (ACHC) is to improve child health through family-centered care coordination, an engaged network of pediatric providers and a unified focus on quality, access and pediatric health equity.
We are committed to keeping kids healthy, improving child health outcomes and supporting families through:
- Coordinating pediatric care services and connecting families to community resources, food assistance programs, transportation services and housing support.
- Providing behavioral health services to support the mental health and well-being of children and address pediatric behavioral health needs.
- Addressing barriers to pediatric care with an emphasis on preventative care and health screenings, management of chronic health conditions, and improved access to quality care.
- Monitoring of the pediatric care we provide as it compares to national benchmarks and ACO performance standards.
The Akron Children’s Health Collaborative (ACHC) makes your child’s healthcare more accessible and improves their health outcomes through coordinated care.
As a provider-led pediatric accountable care organization (ACO), ACHC creates a network of healthcare providers and specialists to deliver high-quality and cost-effective care to your child while contracting directly with your Medicaid managed care organization or commercial insurer.
ACHC provides you and your child with family-centered care coordination, as well as care management and behavioral health services to ensure all of your child’s health and well-being needs are met.
Our ACHC care coordination team of nurses and social workers can help by:
- Finding the right pediatric care providers for your child
- Answering your questions and addressing your healthcare concerns
- Scheduling visits with your child’s doctor or specialist
- Helping with filling prescriptions and medication management
- Finding transportation to doctor visits
- Connecting you to community resources and services like food pantries and housing in your community
Benefits of ACHC:
- ACHC is free to use with no additional costs to families.
- You can see the same doctors and nurses in our pediatric provider network who have become familiar to your family.
- We will help ensure your child receives the best pediatric care and support services possible.
Related Resources
Pediatric provider partnership and engagement are essential to improving the health of children throughout the Northeast Ohio region and advancing pediatric health equity.
Our collaborative care network includes value-based contracts in 14 counties, including independent pediatricians and family medicine providers, Akron Children’s employed pediatricians, as well as pediatric subspecialists, behavioral health providers, women’s care providers, Clinically Integrated Networks (CINs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). This provider-led pediatric ACO model creates a comprehensive network of providers committed to delivering high-quality pediatric care.
Along with resources for care management and coordination, participating providers also receive one-on-one support from practice support specialists. These specialists collaborate with providers to identify tools and resources for quality improvement and performance optimization to help meet practice and patient goals and ensure care is delivered efficiently, effectively and equitably.
Join the network
Our partnerships with pediatric care providers in Northeast Ohio are essential to improving child health outcomes, advancing patient care and promoting pediatric health equity in our community. By joining the Akron Children’s Health Collaborative (ACHC) network of pediatric providers, you can take advantage of the benefits of an accountable care organization (ACO), including:
- Enhanced family-centered care coordination services to improve patient outcomes and optimize the management of chronic conditions.
- Participation in the design and use of peer-reviewed clinical pathways and protocols that support high-quality pediatric care delivery.
- Access to analytical and clinical tools to identify at-risk children and care gaps while addressing barriers to care.
- Streamlined relationships with Medicaid managed care organizations and commercial payors.
- Participation in new value-based contracts with the potential for incentives and other payments.
- Stronger connections with other pediatric providers to share best practices and create solutions.
- Opportunities to shape ACHC’s clinical, contracting, financial and technology strategies through participation in committees and other provider-led groups focused on collaborative pediatric care excellence.
Requirements for Participation:
Participants in the ACHC pediatric provider network must meet the following general requirements, which may be amended over time by the ACHC Board of Directors:
- Provide pediatric care and maintain an unrestricted provider license.
- Participate in the ACO as defined by our Participation Policy.
- Share data and maintain clinical and administrative IT infrastructure to facilitate timely data sharing and care coordination.
- Comply with all other ACHC policies and procedures.
- We do not require providers to share in the risk of the actual cost of care assumed under any Medicaid managed care organization or commercial payor partnership.
To learn more about participating in ACHC, contact ACHCProviderSvcs@akronchildrens.org.
Frequently Asked Questions for Providers:
Will I have to be employed by Akron Children’s or abandon my medical staff privileges at other hospitals?
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No, a key benefit of participating with the ACHC provider network is that it allows community providers to collaborate without sacrificing independence. ACHC does not preclude participants from maintaining their own private practice or restrict the facilities to which they can refer or provide services.
Will participation in ACHC require me to change the way I practice medicine?
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To some extent, yes. Participants will design and implement pediatric clinical protocols and care pathways for cross-continuum coordination, evidence-based medicine and family-centered patient engagement. Practice support specialists will assist providers in the implementation of these improvements and provide data reports identifying additional opportunities to improve quality metrics. This quality-based model will require adoption by all participants to be successful.
Am I obligated to use ACHC providers for all referrals or consults?
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No, providers are encouraged to refer patients to the most appropriate pediatric specialist (based on the patient’s location, insurance coverage and timely access).
How will I be paid by ACHC, and how will it affect my regular compensation?
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Participants will maintain their existing fee-for-service (FFS) contracts with Medicaid managed care organizations and commercial payors. However, ACHC provider groups can earn quality-based incentive compensation for collaboration, engagement, improvement and overall performance. Incentives will be paid to the practice tax identification number according to ACHC’s Incentive Policy. Practices will be responsible for determining how ACHC incentive funds are distributed among their providers. Providers are required to complete the performance year to remain eligible for distribution of provider incentives.
What happens if I do not want to remain in ACHC after joining?
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ACHC participation automatically renews annually. Participants may leave ACHC at any time without cost by notifying ACHC in writing of their intention to exit the network.
Is ACHC a Clinically Integrated Network (CIN)?
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No, a CIN is a network of providers who share information to improve quality of care, reduce costs, and may jointly negotiate fee-for-service (FFS) contracts with payors. ACHC is a provider-led pediatric accountable care organization (ACO) that envisions supporting relationships between payors and participating provider groups but does not plan to jointly negotiate FFS contracts in the near term.
Can I join other CINs if I join ACHC?
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Yes, participants are free to become members of other CINs and ACOs, as long as they continue to honor all requirements, responsibilities and obligations to ACHC. This requirement is subject to change and approval by the ACHC Board of Directors.
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