Creating More Access Without Sacrificing Continuity

As Alaska Children’s Urgent Care and Outreach continued to grow, Jennifer Austin, Medical Director, knew the organization needed technology capable of supporting multiple care models while maintaining consistent documentation and clinical workflows.

“As a pediatric-focused urgent care serving families across Alaska, we needed an EMR designed for the fast pace of urgent care while still supporting high-quality, compassionate pediatric care,” Austin said.

Alaska Children’s Urgent Care and Outreach provides care through traditional urgent care visits, school-based telemedicine programs, outreach initiatives, and statewide virtual care. As those services expanded, maintaining a complete patient record across every setting became increasingly important.

“Because many Alaska families face weather, transportation, or geographic barriers to care, having an EMR that supports flexible care delivery has allowed us to expand access via statewide telemedicine while maintaining continuity and documentation standards,” Austin said.

The same infrastructure supports school-based virtual care programs that connect children with providers while working alongside school nurses, caregivers, and other adults involved in a child’s health. Patient information and documentation remain connected across urgent care, telemedicine, outreach, and school-based care settings.

Supporting Growth While Maintaining a Personal Touch

Maintaining a positive patient experience becomes more difficult as visit volume grows. Seasonal illness surges can place additional pressure on clinics, creating longer wait times and heavier administrative workloads.

Austin says one of the organization’s biggest successes has been improving workflow efficiency while preserving the personalized approach families expect from a pediatric provider.

“Experity has helped our team move patients through the visit process more smoothly, which is especially important during respiratory illness surges and busy seasonal periods in Alaska.”

The ability to support both operational efficiency and personalized pediatric care has helped Alaska Children’s Urgent Care and Outreach continue expanding services across the state. As patient volume has increased, the organization has been able to support broader access initiatives while preserving the family-centered experience that remains central to its mission.

Looking Ahead

Telehealth is often discussed as a matter of convenience, but research suggests access remains the larger challenge in many rural communities. One recent study found rural patients are generally willing to use telehealth when services are available and that access to those services remains a greater barrier than patient interest in virtual care.

“Our top initiative this year is expanding access to pediatric care across Alaska through a combination of urgent care, telemedicine, outreach, and improved care coordination.”