Ensuring Access to Quality, Cost-Effective Care for Children with Autism and Other Developmental Differences  

Alliance Health has partnered with Cortica, a physician-led autism services provider, to expand access to advanced neurological therapies for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental differences in Raleigh and Charlotte. Alliance and Cortica are working together on an integrated whole-person approach to treating ASD that aims to improve the quality of care, reduce sole reliance on Applied Behavior Analysis, and impact unsustainable costs of care that have skyrocketed over the past two years. This collaboration is aligned with both the recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Behavioral Health Quality Pledge and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ newly released State ABA Toolkit, which call for individualized, physician-led, whole-person care and accountability for quality, outcomes, and responsible stewardship of Medicaid resources.

Increasing access to integrated whole-person care for its health plan members has been an ongoing priority for Alliance, according to its Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer Sean Schreiber. “We are very excited about this new collaboration with Cortica. At a time when ABA is under increased scrutiny, the partnership helps ensure access, in a cost-conscious manner, to effective care for ASD.” “Alliance is committed to this type of innovative approach to services, and is not solely reliant on fraud, waste and abuse prevention to address spending concerns,” said Rob Robinson, Alliance CEO. “We are pleased to be the first North Carolina Medicaid Managed Care plan to contract with Cortica, enabling our members to access their unique care model.”

Cortica applies a compassionate multidisciplinary autism care plan that replaces the fragmented, transactional ASD services landscape by unifying care journeys that span four areas (medical, ABA, developmental therapy, and family support) and integrating rich data sets to systematically track clinical progress across disciplines. North Carolina State Senator Jim Burgin, Co-Chair of the Senate Health Care Committee and a long-time advocate for improving autism care, welcomed the partnership. “Families deserve timely access to high-quality autism care that is coordinated around the needs of the child, not fragmented across disconnected providers. This partnership reflects North Carolina’s commitment to whole-person, evidence-based care that measures outcomes, improves the experience for families, and responsibly stewards taxpayer dollars.”

“Our new relationship with Alliance to serve their Medicaid Tailored Plan members further solidifies our commitment to serve all North Carolina children with neurodevelopmental differences and advances health equity and access to care,” said Neil Hattangadi, MD, co-founder and CEO of Cortica. “I commend their leadership for seeing the future of autism care, rewarding outcomes over volume, and doing what’s right for their members.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 31 children is diagnosed with autism in the U.S. Wait times for a diagnosis can take longer than six months in academic medical centers. With a national network of pediatric neurologists and other physicians paired with a digital front door model, Cortica can provide an autism diagnosis within 30 days and accelerate the time from diagnosis to implementation of comprehensive interventions.

The new approach to care between Alliance and Cortica reflects the major shifts happening in the treatment landscape for autism and is consistent with both organizations’ focus on innovative services for the well-being of the members and families whom they serve.