Medical Home, Developmental Monitoring/Screening, and Early Autism Identification

Developmental monitoring/screening predict early identified autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but studies have not yet robustly controlled for a key health care service impacting early identification: medical home. National Surveys of Children's Health (NSCH; 2016-2020) were used to determine the relationship between medical home, developmental monitoring/screening, and identified ASD. NSCH overall medical home variable had a minimal relationship with ASD (under 5 years of age, under 5 identified in last year, under 5 identified over a year prior). Usual source of care was positively, and care coordination negatively, associated with ASD identified in last year, suggesting the overall medical home variable may mask variance from subscales. Research is needed to determine how medical home relates to identification in applied settings.