Improving Access
Bringing Care Closer—For Everyone
Access to quality healthcare should be attainable for every family. Through innovative programs and continued improvements to the way we deliver care, we are helping more children connect to the services and support they need. Each step forward strengthens our commitment to a future where exceptional care is accessible to all.
Opening The State-Of-The-Art Access Hub
After three years of planning, design and construction, our Access Hub officially opened in November 2025. This new facility serves as a Command Center for optimizing system access, capacity and flow for every site of care throughout the health system—all from one central space.
Through the Access Hub, we're able to provide a holistic view of our operations, enabling staff in various departments, roles and expertise to make informed decisions, anticipate bottlenecks, allocate resources more efficiently, and proactively solve patient-centric access challenges.
“This is an exciting milestone in our journey to improve system-wide access and capacity aligned with our Wildly Important Goal (WIG),” said Christy White, MD, chief of access, flow and capacity. “Thanks to all who have worked over the last three years to make this a reality and thanks to our frontline teams who tirelessly work to improve access throughout Cincinnati Children’s every day!”
Key Access Hub Features
The Access Hub was meticulously designed with employee comfort in mind. The space resembles NASA Mission Control and is equipped with the latest groundbreaking technology to enhance access, capacity and flow through the health system. Key features include:
- Programmable and modifiable wall layouts.
- Backup generator power for critical systems.
- Tiered seating for optimal viewing angles.
- Fully adjustable monitors, desks and chairs for all-day use.
- Zoned lighting that can be tailored to employee preferences.
- Noise reduction acoustic treatments.
- Natural light in respite areas.
- Conference space that can be used for Incident Command.
- Huddle rooms.
- Respite spaces to support staff well-being.
- 8 modular 136” Direct View LED screens.
- 29-by-5-foot main screen wall.
- 22 operator stations (with the ability to expand).
- 2 miles of fiber cabling dedicated to video routing and support.
Around 100 staff members from the Admission and Transfer Center, Transport, EVS, Home Care and Remote Patient Monitoring are based in the Hub. Critical daily partners also include Financial Clearance (TCAuth), Nurse Helpline, Patient Services House Managers and Inpatient Care Managers.
More About the Access Hub
Located on the second floor of the Offices at Vernon Place (OVP), the new 7,500-square-foot facility is the next step in how we are making more improvements across all sites of care by:
- Providing better, equitable access to care for all patients and families.
- Reducing patient wait times.
- Improving triage to the right level of care.
- Improving safety through standardized procedures and review practices.
- Utilizing advanced data collection, analysis and prediction to improve flow and capacity.
- Developing new, more efficient workflows to increase employee and patient satisfaction.
Epic Refuel: Rebooting For Our Ambulatory Teams To Deliver More Effective And Coordinated Care
Cincinnati Children’s is continuously enhancing our electronic health record (EHR) system to provide the best possible care for our patients and their families and to improve the experience for our healthcare providers by utilizing the latest tools and technologies.
Since February 2025, four different councils (Clinical, Patient Experience, Referrals and Population Health) have been reviewing the tools now available in Epic to strengthen the foundation of our EHR and understand how these upgraded features can support care and enhance the provider experience.
Starting in July 2025, we rolled out essential features in Epic, changing the way our Ambulatory care providers work, bringing new opportunities for improved effectiveness and care coordination.
“The work being done through Epic Refuel will positively impact the care of the patient and ease the burden for documentation and time spent in the Epic in-basket,” said Kris Wesselkamper, MD, medical director, Neurology, and member of the Refuel Clinical Advisory Council.
Refuel implementations have included:
Medication Refill Standardization, which has allowed for timely refills, quicker reviews and less searching through the record, resulting in quick approval with established protocols for general and specific drug classification groups.
Order Preference Lists have saved time by making it easier and faster to find the frequently placed order items by updating the list according to use.
Our Practice Advisories (OPA) have been revised to minimize interruptions caused by excessive OPA triggering, reducing alert fatigue and increasing the signaled importance of the remaining OPAs.
Encounter Preference Lists have been decluttered to provide quicker access to commonly used items to populate the reason for visit, reason for call and level of service, saving providers time.
One-Click Care Gap Closure has improved the timeliness of placing preventative care orders by implementing a model-based process and associating order sets with health maintenance topics.
MyChart in Spanish, in which patients and families with Spanish set as their language preference will begin to see areas of MyChart in Spanish, building on our commitment to deliver more patient-centered and globally accessible care. Members of the care team will also be able to request a translation in MyChart when responding to messages, which will be routed to Language Access Services.
Self-Registration so patients and families can use their MyChart account to check in before their appointment by updating contacts, completing travel screenings and appointment questionnaires (as appropriate). Any sensitive questionnaires may still require completion at the appointment. Pilot projects will also begin in select areas for Digital Arrival (C2, MOB, Crestview Hills), which will enable families to complete check-in by responding to prompts about their arrival on their phone.
Nurse Helpline Provides Timely Access For After-Hours Care
The Nurse Helpline was officially launched in December 2024 to provide patients and families with immediate access to a specialized nurse who can assist with medical care needs outside of regular business hours. The Helpline was designed to ensure every family has access to patient-centered care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
As the team marked its first year of service, they reflected on the program’s rapid growth and the lessons learned along the way. Initially launched to support primary care outpatient sites, the Helpline has steadily expanded to include a wide variety of specialty divisions, with additional cohorts preparing to onboard throughout 2026. With each new specialty practice, the team has strengthened its go‑live processes, refined communication strategies, and built a smoother, more predictable experience for families navigating care after hours.
In 2025 alone, the Helpline responded to more than 25,000 calls on behalf of all primary care outpatient sites and 10 specialty divisions. By integrating a team of highly experienced nurses with direct access to each patient’s medical record and care plan, the Helpline has empowered many families to safely manage their concerns at home or through timely outpatient appointments. This integrated system better enables the team to avoid unnecessary emergency department visits and ensure Cincinnati Children's providers are utilized effectively during non-business hours.
The Helpline has also had a meaningful impact on employees by reducing the after-hours burden on on-call teams and preventing next-day rework for clinical staff. To better understand this impact, the program launched an experience survey with its most recent cohort, capturing early feedback that has been overwhelmingly positive. Providers describe the service as “seamless,” “impressive” and “a relief.” One provider noted how a Helpline nurse “kept communication swift” during a complex situation, ensuring safety, coordination and follow-through. Another simply said, “We are so grateful.”
Looking ahead, the Nurse Helpline remains committed to expanding access, strengthening partnerships, and orienting capabilities to what families and providers need most. The goal is clear; continue building a service that delivers the right care, in the right place, at the right time—every hour of every day.
Improving Medication Access For Diabetes Patients
What if newly diagnosed diabetes patients could leave the hospital with all the medications and supplies they need without delays, confusion or multiple pharmacy stops? Our Division of Pharmacy recently set out to answer this question.
Previously, complex workflows, inconsistent pharmacy inventory and insurance barriers often got in the way of ensuring patients had everything they needed to manage their diabetes at home. Thanks to a strategic initiative within the Division of Pharmacy called Transitions of Care, the team transformed what was once an occasional win into a reliable part of the discharge process.
Today, more than 95% of patients who have diabetes medication and supplies filled through our Outpatient Pharmacy are leaving the hospital with everything they need at discharge.
Improvement in Action
At the start of FY25, a cross-functional group spanning Diabetes Care, Pharmacy, Endocrinology, Discharge, Financial Advocacy, Ambulatory, and Patient and Family Services came together to improve access and affordability for newly diagnosed diabetes patients.
With quality improvement (QI) support from the Anderson Center, the teams aimed to redesign the discharge process so families could leave the hospital fully equipped to be successful at home and without unnecessary stress.
Using QI methods, the group mapped the current process, surfaced key barriers and tested targeted changes. Early challenges such as stocking a wide range of diabetes supplies, navigating complex insurance requirements, and completing patient education guided their improvement priorities.
Their QI-driven approach led to several improvements, including:
- Standard diabetes order sets for medications and supplies
- Enhanced benefits and eligibility checks
- Early coordination with Family Financial Advocates
- Use of co-pay cards to reduce costs
- Improved patient education at diagnosis
- Meds to Beds delivery to eliminate pharmacy stops after discharge
Since the start of the improvement project, prescription volume at discharge rose from 23 to 192, reflecting both improved workflows and stronger inventory reliability. In addition, the team’s improved inventory and workflows have allowed more than 20 established diabetes patients to choose the outpatient pharmacy for their supplies.
What’s Next and Feedback
The improvement team is now focused on sustaining this work. A new data dashboard is in development to track outcomes in real time, support ongoing learning, and identify opportunities to expand access further as needs evolve. This collaborative effort shows what is possible when teams come together with a commitment to removing barriers for our patients.
One family said, “The new processes made discharge easy, and it was great to not have to make a stop on the way home.”
