Highmark is offering a virtual platform to get children with developmental delays assessed more quickly.
Dr. Tim Law, chief medical officer, Highmark, said the company is covering the use of CanvasDX, an app that can be used by pediatricians to assess if a child is on the autism spectrum.
Law said Highmark chose to cover the service because currently it takes up to two years for a child to be seen by a specialist for an assessment where early intervention is critical.
“We are the first in the country to cover this,” he said.
Dr. Sharief Taraman, CEO of Cognoa, the company that created CanvasDX, said the American Board of Pediatrics says there is one developmental pediatrician for every 100,000 children in the U.S.
CanvasDX is a concept developed by Dr. Dennis Wall at Harvard around 2012, Taraman said.
“This makes it easier and shorter to get an assessment on where a child falls on the autism spectrum, if they do at all,” he said. “Any pediatrician can use it.”
The first to receive FDA approval, Taraman said Cognoa’s studies were done blinded and reviewed by two specialists.
“They were 95% accurate for either a positive or negative test which is really good considering the status quo. This takes 20% to 30% of the time to diagnose,” he said.
Taraman said the software gives parents a space to answer questions and upload videos of their child’s behavior in a neutral setting. The child’s pediatrician also answers questions.
“The software looks at things like eye contact, interactions and sensory disturbances,” he said. “Once we have a diagnosis, the child can get into treatment quickly.”
Pennsylvania is “leading the charge” on this because of Highmark, Taraman said.
“This is of special interest to me,” Law said. “I have a grandson that was on a waitlist and delays in treatment can be very detrimental to care.”
Law said Highmark started vetting companies for apps or online services to help its patients get the care they need.
“During the process, I went around the country to talk about re-evaluation assessments,” he said. “The FDA connects companies on the tech side with insurers and we came out with apps for behavioral health.”
Law said Cognoa approached Highmark with CanvasDX to diagnose autism and ADHD.
“We looked at it as a tool like any other tool we use. If you have the issue, this finds it a high percentage of the time,” he said.
Highmark got feedback from research scientists, physicians, and nurses. The company also looked at reviews from outside companies and data from Cognoa.
“We then talked to providers to see if there was interest in using the platform,” he said. “If there is no interest, there is no point in covering it. In this case, we had some mixed interest but enough that we felt it was worth coverage.”
Taraman said the biggest reason Cognoa developed CanvasDX is the lack of specialists who can perform the evaluations.
“This is designed for autism, but it provides feedback for other developmental delays,” he said. “If a child is negative for autism, he might have a speech delay. If he has autism, this is a guide for treatment plans.”
Early intervention is critical, Taraman said, because autism causes too many connections in the brain making it hard for a child to process things.
“It changes the way these children process things which can cause head banging and other behaviors,” he said. “This is very new to Pennsylvania so only a small number of pediatricians are using it.”
But as it is introduced, Taraman and Law expect more practices to start using it.
“Early intervention can change this from a disorder to a personality trait,” Taraman said. “We need to use technology to our advantage and give parents answers.”
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