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Healthcare utilization among children with early autism diagnoses, children with other developmental delays and a
Brittany N Hand1, Judith S Miller2,3, Whitney Guthrie2,3
1School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, OH 43210, USA.
Insights
Children with autism use significantly more healthcare services, especially outpatient and specialty care, compared to children with developmental delays or the general population. This highlights needs for improved care coordination and guidance for families post-diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition.
- Understanding healthcare utilization is crucial for effective service provision.
- Children with ASD often have unique healthcare needs compared to peers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To delineate healthcare utilization patterns in children diagnosed with autism.
- To compare these patterns against children with other developmental delays (DD) and a population comparison (PC) cohort.
- To identify disparities and opportunities for optimizing care for young children with autism.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of administrative billing data.
- Inclusion of large cohorts: children with autism (n=1821), children with DD (n=12,336), and a population comparison group (n=18,210).
- Comparative analysis of service utilization across the three groups.
Main Results:
- Children with autism exhibited substantially higher annual outpatient visit rates (6x PC, 2x DD).
- Autism cohort showed increased use of psychiatry/psychology services and 'other' specialty care, alongside higher psychotropic prescription rates.
- Mixed utilization patterns were observed when comparing autism and DD cohorts, with lower rates of pediatric specialty care and immunizations in the autism group.
Conclusions:
- Significant opportunities exist to enhance care coordination and streamline services for young children with autism.
- Anticipatory guidance for caregivers regarding post-diagnosis healthcare needs is essential.
- Findings underscore the need for tailored healthcare strategies to meet the complex needs of children with autism.
Abstract:
Aim: To describe healthcare utilization patterns among children with autism (n = 1821), and compare these patterns to children with other developmental delays (DD; n = 12,336) and a population comparison (PC; n = 18,210) cohort. Materials & methods: Retrospective study of administrative billing data. Results: Children with autism had roughly six-times more annual outpatient visits as PC children and twice as many as children with DD. Children with autism were more likely than PC children to use nearly all services, but comparisons between the autism and DD cohorts were mixed. Children with autism were more likely to have psychiatry/psychology visits, 'other' specialty care visits and psychotropic prescriptions, but less likely to have pediatric specialty care visits, immunizations and some prescriptions. Conclusion: Findings reveal opportunities to streamline, coordinate or improve care for young children with autism, particularly for outpatient services, and to give caregivers appropriate anticipatory guidance about what to expect after an autism diagnosis.
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