Great question! The University of Washington (UW) offers Autism COE and ECHO Autism statewide training programs in autism assessment for Medicaid providers, but they are not able to provide hands-on, individualized clinical training and consultation. Dr. Gerdts, a co-leader of these UW trainings, founded Autism Insights to address this training gap, offering a more personalized approach to provider education. Dr. Gerdts' work at Autism Insights is separate from the UW training programs. Click here to learn more about the UW trainings: Autism Center of Excellence https://medicalhome.org/stateinitiatives/centers-of-excellence/ ECHO Autism Washington: https://wainclude.org/echo/echo-autism/

We’re so glad you’re here! Although autism diagnoses from psychologists and psychiatrists are accepted by state and commercial insurance plans, many providers feel they are underprepared to evaluate autism in their practice. Autism assessment is usually not covered in depth in graduate school or medical training programs! We are happy to work with you to meet your needs- including discussion of developmental history collection, education on varied diagnostic tools, and best practices for diagnosis that allow easier access to resources and supports.

We offer both in-person and virtual training and consultations.

Largely, yes. For clinics with mixed payor types, we will work with you before embarking on training or consultation services to ensure that autism diagnoses would be accepted by a primary care provider for your most common commercial payors. Medicaid insurance plans accept autism diagnoses from pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and naturopaths who have undergone Autism COE training. Please visit the Autism Center of Excellence trainings to learn more: https://medicalhome.org/stateinitiatives/centers-of-excellence/

The Journal of Pediatrics found that patients wait two or more years for their autism diagnosis. However, with pediatric autism training, wait times are reduced by 50% or more, meaning patients get their diagnosis and start care plans more than 1 year sooner (Penner et al., 2023; McNally et al., 2023; Sohl et al., 2023).

Billing for autism assessments varies based on provider type. We will share commonly used CPT codes for your provider type. The Autism Center of Excellence Quickstart Guide has examples of billing codes that may be helpful. https://medicalhome.org/COEquickstart.pdf

Yes, and we’re glad you’re prioritizing your comfort level! Autism evaluations can be complex, and while research supports training non-specialists to assess some younger children, there is not yet research on evaluation outcomes in school-age kids and adolescents. We’re happy to help with more nuanced cases or older children right in your clinic, reducing the need for outside referrals with long wait times – and creating valuable learning opportunities for you in the process."

We charge an hourly fee that will be discussed in our first free phone consultation appointment. We offer a sliding scale for practices or providers who see a majority Medicaid population.

Autism diagnoses are increasing each year, yet many primary care and mental health providers feel underprepared and refer patients to autism specialists for a diagnosis, even when they are confident their patient has autism. Autism Insights can help you integrate autism assessments into your practice-- at a pace and breadth that makes you comfortable. You will strengthen patient loyalty, enhance provider expertise, and elevate career satisfaction. You can make a big difference with minimal investment! See more reasons to invest and justification to get the program approved on the "Why Invest?" page.

Primary care and mental health providers will benefit most from our services. Our most common clients are pediatricians, psychologist, and psychiatric providers. The following provider types are licensed to diagnose autism in Washington State by the Washington State Healthcare Authority. Pediatric primary care providers, including pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioners, and pediatric physician assistants. Child Clinical Psychologist Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Social Workers & other Masters-Level therapists supporting autistic children would also benefit from understanding of resources and supports for children and families.

An early diagnosis allows families to access the right services and supports sooner, which improves long-term outcomes and helps their child to reach their full potential. While a diagnosis isn’t always required for many community and school-based supports, it can be a valuable step in understanding the best path forward.

Yes! Through our live, hands-on consultations, Autism Insights provides feedback and support in administering and interpreting a range of autism diagnostic tools. While we are not formal trainers for specific tools, we can offer unbiased guidance on selecting the right measures for your practice and continue to support you after your initial training.

Autism can be reliably diagnosed by a specialist by age 2, but the average age of autism diagnosis in the U.S. is 4-5 years. The average age of first intervention in the U.S. is 4.7 years. The average age of diagnosis for children in lower income households is 4.7 years compared to 5.2 years in higher income households. Source: National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) (2016-2019)

Dr. Gerdts is a provider at Brave Seattle, and would gladly evaluate your child. Contact us at https://www.braveseattle.com/.

Today, we only train providers in Washington state.

Single case consultations are currently only available for established Autism Insights clients.

It depends on your goals and where you are starting. Our work together could be as little as a minimal number of hours for clinical consultation or more in depth training. I will give you an estimate after our free consultation call.

Reimbursement rates vary widely depending on provider type and whether/what type of insurance you accept. We will work with you to provide an estimate of what you could expect, based on billing codes and anticipated time spent during evaluations. We will also provide practical tips and strategies to help maximize reimbursement.