Early Diagnostic Telehealth Pilot for Moderate- and High-Risk Children: Evaluating Assessment Protocols and Efficiency in Georgia's Early Intervention Program

The objective of this study is to develop, pilot, and evaluate a telehealth diagnostic protocol for assessing toddlers identified as moderate- or high-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within Georgia's Babies Can't Wait (BCW) Early Intervention (EI) program. Many BCW children with moderate- or high-risk screening results face long wait times and limited access to diagnostic evaluations. This pilot will evaluate how many of these assessments can be completed entirely via a streamlined telehealth protocol and the level of diagnostic confidence achieved. It is hypothesized that the EDRM-E will increase access to timely, evidence-based autism evaluations and yield diagnostic outcomes comparable to in-person assessments based on DSM-5-TR criteria. Secondary aims include identifying which additional assessment measures increase clinician confidence and are most acceptable to families and providers. It is hypothesized that moderate-risk children will require more in-depth evaluation and that families receiving expanded assessments will report higher satisfaction and acceptability. A further objective is to examine family, BCW provider, and clinician satisfaction, understanding, and access to services following participation in the EDRM-E pilot. No data will be submitted to the FDA, and no algorithm, product, or software will be commercialized or used outside Emory.