We are turning the spotlight on MetroHealth Medical Center who leveraged the ECHO Model to relaunch their ECHO Autism: Screening, Referral Pathways, and Initial Supports to Lessen ASD Disparities program.
This Ohio-based ECHO Autism program focused on increasing accessibility to autism services and streamlining referrals between state and local community organizations. The participating organizations received direct access to experts in ASD screening, behavioral supports, and resources.
The specific goals for this ECHO Autism program included:
- Educating community providers in a consistent process for screening ASD and how to share results with families.
- Increasing awareness of ASD related behaviors.
- Discussing referral pathways, behavioral supports, and resources for ASD.
- Promoting discussion of specific cases brought to the team by community providers.
Why this program is important: Many low-income children have reduced contact with the medical system and often utilize medical resources that do not provide consistency of care (e.g., urgent care, emergency department, walk-in clinics). The goal is to improve rates of early ASD screening and follow-up by continuing to partner with programs commonly accessed by low income and racial/ethnic minorities, but whose front-line providers have little formal training in ASD (e.g., Women, Infants, and Children; Department of Children and Family Services; Birth to Three Intervention).
We are incredibly excited for the work that Melissa Armstrong-Brine, Katie Hatmaker, and their team have done with this program.
