Cincinnati Children’s health equity efforts to benefit from $800,000 in funding from CareSource

Friday, January 06, 2023

Cincinnati Children’s and local kids will benefit from $800,000 in funding from the Dayton-based insurance company CareSource.

The funding will be used to further efforts to achieve excellent and equitable health outcomes by addressing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities.

“Closing equity gaps in patient outcomes is one of the major drivers of improving overall pediatric health,” said Jeff Anderson, MD, senior vice president and chief population health officer at Cincinnati Children’s. “We are grateful to CareSource as this will support our teams in closing these gaps.”

“CareSource is proud to support Cincinnati Children’s in pursuit of equitable health outcomes for children and adolescents in Greater Cincinnati,” said Steve Ringel, CareSource Ohio market president. “CareSource knows that eliminating health disparities cannot be achieved without partnerships to address issues that have impacted health outcomes for historically marginalized communities.”

Cincinnati Children’s work on health equity is led by the Michael Fisher Child Health Equity Center and HealthVine.

HealthVine, a network of pediatric care providers and organizations backed by Cincinnati Children’s, provides care management, quality improvement and utilization management for about 120,000 children and young adults with CareSource Medicaid insurance in eight Ohio counties – Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren.

HealthVine combines internal data from Cincinnati Children’s with information gathered through CareSource to create innovative ideas for improvement in various areas.

“Funding will help us to move further faster and gives us space to think differently about how we deliver care,” said Andrew Beck, MD, MPH, who is director of population health research & innovation at HealthVine as well as faculty co-lead in the Fisher Center and an attending physician at Cincinnati Children’s.

“This will help reduce racial and socioeconomic equity gaps in a variety of clinical areas, including asthma, mental health conditions, premature birth, and Type 1 diabetes,” added Ndidi Unaka, MD, MEd, who is medical director for quality improvement and analytics for HealthVine and an attending physician at Cincinnati Children’s.

The Fisher Center was established in November 2021 to address social, environmental and health care factors that influence child health so that all kids can reach their full potential and thrive.

Robert Kahn, MD, the Cincinnati Children’s vice president who oversees the Fisher Center, said the work boosted by the CareSource funding would have a significant impact.

“Cincinnati Children’s is deeply committed to excellent health outcomes for every child,” Kahn said. “With the Fisher Child Health Equity Center, Health Vine and this generous support, we are poised to make tremendous strides for kids.”