Innovative Health Models
Right place. Right time. Right care.
We provide children with care and services when and where they need them most. This includes everything from partnering with schools to offer immunizations, behavioral health support, and nutrition assistance, to establishing community events and care closets within neighborhoods. We’re also exploring virtual care models that reduce hospital stays by allowing families to receive advanced care at home, supported by loved ones.
School-Based Health
Addressing Student Health Needs
School-based health centers play an important role in our work to improve children’s health beyond traditional medical settings. Our partnerships with the Colonial, Christina, and Seaford School Districts encompass 17 elementary and middle schools and focus on prevention and comprehensive well-being. We’ve extended access to physicals, health screenings, individual, family and group counseling, immunizations, and more, to thousands of students regardless of their family’s income or insurance coverage.
Families, educators, and health professionals are working together to help students thrive.
Data Access for Student Health
School attendance is a broad indicator of long-term health. To help combat rising absenteeism, a public health concern, care integration teams at Nemours Children’s Health are part of a proactive collaboration with the Colonial School District, the district’s Data Service Center, and the Delaware Health Information Network. One of only two such programs in the U.S., Data Access for Student Health combines data sharing and cross-sector collaboration to enhance communication between schools and health care providers..
How It Works
“This model helps identify students who may be missing a lot of school for a number of different reasons — their asthma is flaring up, they don’t have a ride, they are sharing a computer with their sibling. We want to ensure kids have every opportunity to be in school.”
— Jeff Menzer, Superintendent, Colonial School District
HIMSS
Stage 7
since 2011
Interoperability
Meaningful Exchanges
The Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) works to improve patient care through technology and recognizes institutions that are harnessing data and technology at the highest levels. As a designated Stage 7 organization — the highest certification attainable from HIMSS — Nemours Children’s excels in secure and meaningful data exchange, which is crucial for driving improvements in the delivery and outcomes of care. We are routinely recognized by Epic, one of the largest electronic health record systems in America, as a leader in health information exchange (HIE), dating back to 2011. We collaborate with entities spanning all 50 U.S. states, including other health systems, state and regional HIEs, pharmacies, immunization registries, government agencies, and payors, to create a more immediate and complete picture of child health at the individual and population levels.
Immunization Registries
Our vaccine data is integrated bidirectionally with immunization registries in Florida, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, eliminating the need for providers to check online portals. This integration quickly lets a provider know when a patient is due for a vaccine and it helps ease transitions for families.
Image Exchange
This feature enables the secure transfer of images such as X-rays, EKGs, wound photos, and scans. The “duplicate checks” feature displays a pop-up alerting providers when they attempt to order an imaging procedure that has been completed at another organization. The external result is then displayed for their review, avoiding duplicate testing, saving time and decreasing costs.
Look-Alikes
Leveraging the rich data set in the Epic Cosmos database, “Look-Alikes” enables providers to search rare conditions or mysterious constellations of symptoms to consult and collaborate with other providers who have experience caring for similar patients.
Encounter Notification Services
Since 2015, we have leveraged encounter notification services from health information exchange networks in Delaware, Florida, and Southeastern Pennsylvania to track patient encounters outside our system. Real-time notifications about ER/hospital visits update electronic medical records and alert our care teams, prompting patient follow-ups. Initially focused on primary care, we’ve expanded to include sickle cell disease, neuromuscular conditions, complex care, and Advanced Delivery Program patients. These notifications enhance timely follow-ups and care coordination.
Family Resources
Caring For The Whole Family
Located on the first floor of Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, the Family Resource Center offers patient families streamlined access to community resources, classes, services, and supplies that address their holistic health needs. The center, led by Laura Chilcutt, MD, is staffed with volunteer Resource Navigators — undergraduate students studying to become health care professionals. Thanks to funding from the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, 30 student resource navigators have received specialized training in understanding drivers of health, how to work with families in clinical settings, and how to identify and connect families with resources that meet their needs and are geographically appropriate. In addition to one-to-one support, the Center features a computer lab and offers supplies like healthy food, books, and diapers to address immediate needs.
Community-Centered Care
Nemours Children’s Health, Jessup Street, is a primary care practice in northeast Wilmington, Delaware. The practice, led by Pediatrician Hal Byck, MD, has offered a helping hand to the surrounding community for more than 30 years. Today, Jessup Street serves as a model in our network of integrated primary care — with support ranging from typical pediatric services such as well-child and sick visits, newborn exams and immunizations to on-site lactation counseling, autism screening, specialist visits, psychology, social work, and medical-legal partnerships. The practice is known for its annual back-to-school block party and as a place where those in need can access food, coats, pajamas, books and other infant and child supplies.
SHAPING The Future
Pioneers In Care
The use of technology in health care encounters has evolved rapidly over the last decade. From electronic health records and telehealth to mobile health apps and wearables, the bar for better, safer and higher quality patient care continues to rise. At the same time, the health care industry has experienced extreme challenges — workforce shortages and burnout, financial pressures on providers, and access challenges for patients. Two emerging innovations at Nemours demonstrate our leadership in the future of patient care.
After reviewing evidence from adult care settings and engaging in extensive planning by our Nursing teams, we implemented a virtual nursing model across our enterprise in 2024. Rare in pediatric settings, our program provides a unique opportunity to contribute a pediatric perspective to the evolving body of knowledge on virtual care. This initiative enhances patient satisfaction and establishes additional support systems, enabling bedside care teams to deliver uninterrupted direct patient care.
By bringing a pediatric perspective to virtual care, we’re shaping the future of innovative, high-quality care for children.
The Key Roles of Our Virtual Nurses
Completing admission and discharge processes
Providing patient education
Conducting chart and medication reconciliations
Responding to alerts or emergencies arising from our clinical logistics center’s remote monitoring
Mentoring other staff, particularly newer members of the nursing team
Delivering Positive Results
Higher Nurse and Patient Satisfaction
Lower Readmission Rates
Better Communication with Non-English Speaking Families
As we expand the program from 200 to 370 patient rooms, we’ll continue tracking data to ensure financial sustainability, support patient care, and improve nurse satisfaction and retention.
In recent years, our clinical, research, and innovation leaders began exploring advanced care options that would safely extend traditional in-hospital care into the comfort of a patient’s home – reducing length of stay and costs while increasing access, satisfaction, community support, and overall comfort.
Center for Advanced Care at Home
Combining clinical care, technology, and operations
Enhancing patient safety, effectiveness, and overall health
Setting a new industry standard for home-based pediatric care
Key Components
Centralized Clinical
Command Center with
a Dedicated
Interdisciplinary Team
Virtual Care
Delivery and
Patient Support
Remote Patient
Monitoring and
Technology-Enhanced
Communication
The Nemours Children’s Center for Advanced Care at Home began operations in April 2025 with an augmented outpatient hospital discharge to home model. Designed to enhance patient outcomes and address gaps in the care continuum, the program supports our goal to provide the best care and treatment options for those we serve.