Importance of a medical home on access to care for children with autism spectrum disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience more difficulty accessing primary and specialty health care services than children with other special health care needs. Increased need for specialty care and poor quality of care likely increase this disparity. This project sought to determine the relationship between having a medical home and children's unmet specialty care needs. This study used data on children with ASD within the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (n=3,055). Descriptive statistics identified sample characteristics, access to a medical home and needed specialty care services. T-tests examined differences in unmet needs of children with and without a medical home. Multiple regression analysis examined whether having a medical home predicted the number of unmet service needs after controlling for demographic, family and condition-related characteristics. Less than a quarter of children with ASD (24%) had a medical home. While, nearly all children (98%) had at least one specialty care need, 36% had an unmet need within the year. Children with a medical home had fewer unmet needs (X=0.15, SD=.02) than those without a medical home ((X=0.69, SD=.04), t(2850) = 5.48, p>.000). The regression showed that family characteristics, number of needed services and the presence of a medical home were significant predictors of unmet needs. These findings reveal the importance of a medical home in contributing to access to needed services for children with ASD. Improving access to a medical home will likely improve receipt of needed services and quality of life and decrease family burden.