The Medical Home and Health Care Transition for Youth With Autism

BACKGROUND: Our objective in this study was to describe the association between the receipt of health care transition services (HCTS) and having a medical home in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Youth with ASD receive HCTS less often than other youth with special health care needs but are in particular need of continuous, comprehensive health care. METHODS: We used the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs to describe the receipt of HCTS in youth with ASD and its association with presence of a medical home. Descriptive statistics are presented, and logistic regression is used to assess the association between medical home and HCTS. RESULTS: Twenty-one percent of youth with ASD met the criteria for receiving HCTS. Youth with ASD and a medical home were almost 3 times as likely to receive HCTS as youth without a medical home, and youth who received family-centered care and have adequate care coordination within the medical home were more than twice as likely to receive HCTS as those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Youth with ASD are not receiving HCTS at the same rate as their peers. Increasing provider awareness of autism, the components of a medical home, and of the importance of HCTS could greatly help increase the percentage of youth who receive effective HCTS.