$13.1 Million Grant Expands Pediatric Care for Underserved

(From Pediatric Directions, Issue 39)

Partners for Kids (PFK), Nationwide Children’s and Akron Children’s Hospital were recently awarded a $13.1 million Health Care Innovation Grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). With support from the state of Ohio, these partners will expand the PFK model to cover a total of 517,000 Medicaid-enrolled children in 46 of Ohio’s 88 counties covering the urban northeast area to the southern tip of the state, including rural central and southeastern Appalachian counties.

The expansion of the PFK model of health care delivery represents a new national innovation, a model not being tested anywhere else by the CMS. PFK is the largest and oldest accountable care organization focused solely on Medicaid-enrolled children in the nation. Specifically, the expanded PFK model will:

• Cover 517,000 children, including more than 200,000 Medicaid-enrolled children in the Akron and northeastern areas of Ohio
• Cover 25,000 previously excluded disabled children who constitute a large portion of pediatric medical costs
• Add a shared savings component that benefits patients, provider organizations, the State of Ohio and federal Medicaid programs
• Rapidly deploy an expanded health care workforce with a focus on increasing access for high-risk rural and urban underserved populations
• Evaluate health, quality of care and cost savings outcomes among PFK regions compared to historical trends and other areas of Ohio to determine the viability and replication of this care delivery model

By receiving a set amount of funds for all the health care needs of a child, the PFK program incentivizes quality outcomes and prevention. To date, PFK has reduced neonatal intensive care unit length of stay, reduced the premature birth rate, decreased emergency room visits and increased immunizations for high-risk children. Learn more about PFK at PartnersforKids.org.