Electronic Patient-reported Outcomes (e-PROs) in Early Intervention

Overview

A major goal of early intervention (EI) is to employ a family-centered approach to helping children to optimally function at home and in the community. However, the effects of EI are poorly understood. The aims of this project are: 1) to test the feasibility, acceptability, and value of introducing novel electronic patient-reported outcome (e-PRO) measures in EI, to strengthen family-centered EI care; and 2) to obtain and pair these outcomes data with EI program data, to further determine the value of e-PRO data collection for examining links between EI service use and functional outcomes among families who are enrolled in a large, urban EI program.

Approximately 5,800 infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, complex chronic conditions) and delays access Early Intervention Colorado (EI-CO) annually. A primary goal of EI-CO is to employ a family-centered care approach to help children optimally function at home and in the community. Hence, early intervention is a common source of rehabilitation (i.e., physical, occupational, speech and language therapy) for EI-CO eligible families. However, the effects of EI-CO are poorly understood. Numerous challenges exist with obtaining EI-CO outcomes data, including a paucity of validated and feasible functional outcome measures for use in EI outcomes reporting. These challenges have resulted in inadequate knowledge about EI service use and outcomes to guide service delivery. Despite these challenges, recent policy changes have resulted in EI-CO service providers being pressed to ensure high quality care with limited resources and evidence to guide their clinical decision-making about effective and efficient interventions. This proposal addresses the need to fill critical knowledge gaps about the adequacy of EI services with an eye toward improving care quality. This study involves families who have/are receiving EI-CO services through Rocky Mountain Human Services (RMHS), the largest EI program in Denver Metro. The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility, acceptability, and value of collecting electronic patient-reported outcomes (e-PRO) data to engage families when their child is due for an annual evaluation of progress. To further demonstrate the value of e-PRO data collection, these data will be paired with program data to estimate the association between EI-CO service use and functional outcomes.