After Cincinnati Children’s HealthVine Medicaid pediatric accountable care organization (ACO) expanded the use of telehealth in 2021 within its service area of southwest Ohio, the ACO reported savings of $610,000 due to lower utilization of high-intensity care, according to a case study Serving more than 100,000 children, the ACO’s use of telehealth resulted in 693 avoided emergency department visits, 4,158 avoided urgent care visits, and 114 avoided in-person visits.
To further improve children’s outcomes, the HealthVine ACO expanded enrollment in care management by 106% between 2023 and 2024, the case study stated. The report did not state how many more children were enrolled in case management. HealthVine care managers also boosted member outreach by 57%.
The HealthVine ACO is in-network with four of Ohio’s seven Medicaid managed care entities, and HealthVine contracts with the managed care entity that administers a specialized managed care program, OhioRISE, for youth with complex behavioral needs. Through these arrangements the managed care entities pay HealthVine a per member per month fee. It delegates financial and medical responsibility, care management, quality improvement, data analytics, and utilization management to HealthVine.
HealthVine ACO is part of Cincinnati Children’s approach to promoting Whole Child Health using the primary care setting to address each child’s needs. Cincinnati Children’s also leverages integrated behavioral health, clinical partnerships with schools and community-based organizations, and learning networks with multisector stakeholders to advance Whole Child Health.
The outcomes were reported in a case study, Advancing the Key Elements of Whole Child Health: Provider Case Studies, by Hannah Wagner, MPP; Hannah Jacobson, MPH; and Daniella Gratale, MA, of Nemours Children’s Health. They presented the elements of the approach used by Cincinnati Children’s.
The full text of Advancing the Key Elements of Whole Child Health: Provider Case Studies was released by the Whole Child Health Alliance in December 2025 (accessed January 6, 2026).
. Cincinnati Children’s is a nonprofit, pediatric health system comprised of three main campuses (Burnet, Liberty and College Hill—a dedicated mental and behavioral health facility) as well as primary and specialty care clinics, urgent cares, and ancillary services at more than 50 sites throughout Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. It is one of the five largest children’s hospitals in the U.S. based on bed capacity. It provides care across 33 specialties and a range of telehealth services. About 50% of children served by Cincinnati Children’s are covered by Medicaid. The organization uses a population health approach to advance Whole Child Health using a financing model that incentivizes its clinical professionals to address each child’s full spectrum of needs.
The Whole Child Health Alliance is a national alliance, founded by Nemours Children’s Health in 2021 bringing together health care providers, payers, community-based organizations, and experts to accelerate whole child health delivery models supported by sustainable financing strategies. Whole child health models engage multisector partners to support the developmental, physical, mental, behavioral, and non-medical needs of children and youth, and foster healthy relationships with caregivers, through individual, family-based and community-level approaches. Cincinnati Children’s is part of the Whole Child Health Alliance.
For more information, contact: Nemours Children’s National Office of Policy and Prevention; Email: nationaloffice@nemours.org; Website: https://www.nemours.org/about/policy/advocacy.html
March 2026 00US26EUA0004