(LITTLE ROCK, AR) – Children and families who use ARcare, a non-profit healthcare organization with more than 70 primary care sites and 40 school-based clinics, will now also have the benefit of care coordinated through the Arkansas Children’s Care Network (ACCN).
ARcare recently joined ACCN, a clinically integrated network (CIN) that is changing how children across the state receive health care. ACCN connects the many physicians treating the same child, including their primary care provider and any specialists statewide. This collaboration leads to the best possible outcome for each child while lowering costs and addressing barriers to care.
ACCN is the nation’s first statewide pediatric CIN, promoting collaboration among primary care and specialty providers who treat children in Arkansas. It has become a model for other states, as well.
“We are excited to join ACCN,” said Aaron Pilkington, vice president of Strategic Communication for ARcare. “This partnership will allow us to better serve our patients, especially those who live in rural and underserved areas. By working together with ACCN providers, we can ensure that children get the care they need when they need it, close to home.”
By joining ACCN, ARcare and other providers focus on meaningful, pediatric-specific metrics and processes to improve the quality and cost of pediatric care in Arkansas, while ensuring families see their hometown providers. Together, these practices are at the forefront of developing and deploying new care models and clinical practices that give children a better today and healthier tomorrow.
“We believe this partnership will be a game-changer for children and families in Arkansas,” Pilkington said. “We are committed to working with ACCN to improve the quality of care and reduce costs for families right where they live.”
Founded in 1981, ARcare is a medical network striving to fulfill its “Health for All” mission by specializing in primary care, behavioral health, pharmaceutical care, and insurance. As a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC), ARcare cares for every patient regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.
About Arkansas Children’s Care Network
Arkansas Children’s Care Network (ACCN) is a physician-led, statewide pediatric clinically integrated network designed to improve the health of children across Arkansas by facilitating high-quality, cost-effective, and coordinated care delivered close to home. More than 160 pediatricians across the state participate in ACCN, the nation’s first statewide pediatric clinically integrated network. ACCN equips its partners to work together using common health protocols and pathways so that each child receives excellent care at the most appropriate location, ensuring a healthier tomorrow. Learn more at www.ACCNconnect.org.
About Arkansas Children’s
Arkansas Children’s is the only healthcare system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas’ more than 700,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state’s only burn center; the state’s only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); the state’s only magnetoencephalography (MEG) system for neurosurgical planning and cutting-edge research; and the state’s only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Arkansas Children’s is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in seven pediatric subspecialties (2023—2024): Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology and Urology. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the Northwest Arkansas region, is a level IV pediatric trauma center. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and Northwest Arkansas’ only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children’s since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.