The Connecticut ABCD Screening Academy Project improved EPSDT implementation for children insured by HUSKY, the state’s Medicaid program. Connecticut developed policies to help pediatric practices implement AAP-recommended screenings and to connect children identified through screening to needed resources. Connecticut also developed a plan for a statewide system and to ensure that policies are implemented across all practice settings.

Specifically, the ABCD Screening Academy in Connecticut improved developmental screening by:

• Improving state policy to better support developmental screening by revising policies to allow for the 96110 to be billed on the same day as a well child visit or an evaluation and management (E and M) visit, by revising reimbursement rates, and by implementing a Pay for Performance (P4P) program.
• Sustaining and spreading the use of standardized screening tools as part of well child care from a ‘best practice’ to a ‘standard of practice’ by working with the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI) and Help Me Grow who have been revising the Educating Practice in their Communities (EPIC) model to reflect changes in Medicaid policy and working directly with physician's offices to spread the word about these changes.