Community Provider Perspectives on an Autism Learning Health Network: A Qualitative Study

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Kearney, J., Bosyj, C., Rombos, V., Curran, A. B., Clark, B., Cornell, W., Mah, S., Mahurin, M., Piroddi, N., Sohl, K., Zwaigenbaum, L., & Penner, M. (2024). Community Provider Perspectives on an Autism Learning Health Network: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 56(4), 1408-1417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06597-8

Publication date: 23 Oct 2024 Added to AutiHub: 22 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
12
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 12 (8.3%)
  1. Josie Kearney
  2. Catherine Bosyj
  3. Victoria Rombos
  4. Alicia Brewer Curran
  1. Brenda Clark
  2. Wendy Cornell
  3. Shannon Mah
  4. Melissa Mahurin
  1. Nicholas Piroddi *
  2. Kristin Sohl
  3. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum
  4. Melanie Penner

Abstract

Although autism is highly prevalent, no single care center has enough patients to produce generalizable knowledge of optimal care; this slows the pace of quality improvement research. The Autism Care Network (ACNet) is a learning health network (LHN) dedicated to developing the most effective approach to care for autistic children and adolescents through integrating clinical and research data. Given that most autistic patients receive care in the community, expanding ACNet to include community providers is essential to improve autism care. Our objectives were to: (1) understand the current data collection practices, learning needs, capacity, and overall interest of community clinicians in participating in an autism LHN; (2) identify their perspectives on participating in a LHN and ways in which their engagement and interest can be cultivated. Participants were purposively sampled from community physicians who participated in ASD-focused educational programming. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Analysis of 29 participant interviews yielded five primary themes: Navigating Administrative Challenges, Improving Data Collection Practices, Increasing Provider Confidence and Competence, Breaking Down Silos, and System and Societal Barriers to Achieving Best Practices. This study provides a rich and nuanced understanding of the experiences of community providers regarding the challenges of ASD care provision in the community. Overall, these findings suggest that LHNs have the potential to address several of the issues in community autism care highlighted by community providers.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
35
With a DOI
32
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
0 / 35 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 35 (8.6%)
References with detected author names
32 / 35 (91.4%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
3
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
3
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
157
From DOI or external metadata
157
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
4
19 / 157 (12.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 138 / 157 (87.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 157 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 19 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 139 (0.0%).
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