Project Description:
In 2019, the Washington State Legislature provided funding to help us support primary care providers (PCPs) in their ability to diagnose and provide treatment plans for individuals with autism and their families through the ECHO Autism Washington program. ECHO Autism Washington supports PCPs who serve the Medicaid population through the Washington State Centers of Excellence (COE) program. The Washington State COE program was designed to address the Washington State healthcare provider workforce shortage that has contributed to the long waitlist for accessing both diagnostic and treatment services for people with ASD.
ECHO Autism Washington officially launched its first teleconference session on December 11, 2019 with 28 primary care providers across Washington State and since completed the first 12 month cohort with a total of twenty three 90 minute sessions. Washington State COE PCP spoke participants presented patient case studies to the team of content experts at the hub from UW and Seattle Children s in an all teach, all learn fashion with the clear goal to improve in PCP confidence and knowledge. Providers in the program have provided feedback that they have begun making autism diagnoses independently and prescribing appropriate interventions after these training.
With the Zoom teleconferencing platform utilization even before the COVID 19 pandemic; thus, the program continue to thrive despite the unprecedented difficulty of the public health crisis. Twenty five (25) of the original 28 PCP participants completed the entire 12 months with most attending at least 75% of clinic sessions. Due to the success of the program, ECHO Autism Washington now double its effort in 2021, supporting two cohorts withover 50 individual COE providers practicing across Washington State.
Core Function(s):
Continuing Education/Community Training
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Professionals and Para-Professionals
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
None
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Regional
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
