Utilization of telemedicine to support caregivers of young children with ASD and their Part C service providers: a comparison of intervention outcomes across three models of service delivery.

BACKGROUND: Families of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently experience barriers to accessing evidence-based early intervention services. Telemedicine presents an opportunity to increase access to these services, particularly for families in rural and under-resourced areas. The present article describes a brief behavioral intervention and support model for families of young children with concerns for ASD. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this service model shifted to telemedicine-only service delivery, resulting in an opportunity to analyze intervention outcomes from services delivered either via traditional in-person visits, telemedicine-only sessions, or a hybrid model including both in-person and telemedicine sessions. METHODS: Data are presented for 115 families with toddlers 16-33 months of age who participated in a six-session behavioral intervention and support service model either in-person, through telemedicine, or through a hybrid service model. This intervention was available for families referred for ASD evaluation through the state Part C early intervention program. Intervention feasibility, fidelity of implementation, child outcomes, and stakeholder satisfaction are compared across service delivery models. RESULTS: Caregivers, behavioral consultants, and Part C early intervention providers reported satisfaction with services, regardless of service delivery model. Caregivers and consultants also reported positive child outcomes. Statistically significant differences emerged for caregiver- and consultant-reported child outcomes in some domains, with stakeholders in the telemedicine-only group reporting slightly less improvement, compared to stakeholders in the in-person-only group. Caregivers and consultants in the telemedicine-only group also provided qualitative feedback on benefits and challenges related to telemedicine services. CONCLUSIONS: Both caregivers and behavioral consultants reported positive outcomes following a brief behavioral intervention and support model targeted at families of young children with concern for ASD. Stakeholders reported improvement in child behavior and satisfaction with services across in-person, telemedicine-only, and hybrid models of service delivery. These results suggest that telemedicine presents a promising opportunity for increasing service access. Additional research is needed to continue optimizing the experience of telemedicine-based service delivery for both families and intervention providers.

Hospital-Acquired Infection Underlies Poor Functional Outcome in Patients with Prolonged Length of Stay.

INTRODUCTION: Prolonged length of stay (pLOS) following ischemic stroke inflates cost, increases risk for hospital-acquired complications, and has been associated with worse prognosis. METHODS: Acute ischemic stroke patients admitted between July 2008 and December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed for pLOS, defined as a patient stable for discharge hospitalized for an additional ≥24 hours. RESULTS: Of 274 patients included, 106 (38.7%) had pLOS (median age 65 years, 60.6% female, 69.0% black). Patients with pLOS had higher admission NIHSS than patients without pLOS (9 versus 5, P = 0.0010). A larger proportion of patients with pLOS developed an infection (P < 0.0001), and after adjusting for covariates, these patients had greater odds of poor short-term functional outcome (OR = 2.25, 95% CI 1.17-4.32, P = 0.0148). Adjusting for infection, the odds of patients with pLOS having poor short-term functional outcome were no longer significant (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 0.83-3.35, P = 0.1443). CONCLUSIONS: The contraction of a hospital-acquired infection was a significant predictor of pLOS and a contributor of poor short-term outcome following an ischemic stroke. Whether the cause or the consequence of pLOS, hospital-acquired infections are largely preventable and a target for reducing length of stay.

Inpatient rehabilitation centers and concern for increasing volume of ischemic stroke patients requiring rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether prolonged length of stay (pLOS) in ischemic stroke is related to delays in discharge disposition arrangement. METHODS: We designed a retrospective study to compare patients with acute ischemic stroke who experienced pLOS to those who did not experience pLOS. Patients who have had acute ischemic stroke between July 2008 and December 2010 were included unless they arrived >48 hours after time last seen normal, had an unknown last seen normal, or experienced an in-hospital stroke. pLOS was defined in our prospective stroke registry (before the generation of this research question) as hospitalization extended for ≥ 24 hours more than necessary to determine neurologic stability and next level of care/disposition for a given patient. We characterized the frequency of each cause of pLOS and further investigated the destinations that were more frequently associated with pLOS among patients with delay resulting from arranging discharge disposition. RESULTS: Of the 274 patients included, 106 (31.9%) had pLOS. Reasons for pLOS were discharge disposition (48.1%), non-neurologic medical complications (36.8%), delays in imaging studies (20.8%), awaiting procedure (10.4%), and neurologic complications (9.4%). Among patients with pLOS caused by delayed disposition, more than half were awaiting placement in an inpatient rehabilitation facility. CONCLUSIONS: For the majority of our patients, pLOS was caused by acquired medical complications and delayed disposition, most commonly inpatient rehabilitation. Further efforts are needed to prevent complications and further investigation is necessary to identify the factors that may contribute to delayed discharge to inpatient rehabilitation facilities, which may include delayed planning or heightened scrutiny of insurance companies regarding their beneficiaries.