_________________________________________________________________________________ Akron Children’ s Hospital
Her work connects directly to how care moves through the system. Families arrive with urgent needs that can’ t wait for legal review. Physicians and staff make quick decisions, sometimes without complete information or clear consent. That’ s where legal support matters most.“ If I had to say where we have the greatest impact, it would be risk management and helping our providers and front-line employees across the organization manage and make decisions on a day-to-day basis.”
Pediatric realities
At Akron, the scale of care makes pediatric challenges even bigger. Medicaid drives reimbursement and shapes how services grow.“ The biggest challenge for pediatrics is the anticipated cuts in Medicaid, because it is not uncommon that 50 to 60, maybe even 70 percent of your patient population is Medicaid,” she says.
The payer mix puts pressure on many areas of operations. Decisions about growth, staffing, and access all link back to funding structures that can change quickly.
Consent is another recurring challenge. Children arrive with caregivers whose legal authority isn’ t always clear. These situations come up every day across departments and locations.“ Issues around who can
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