Beaming Score

Throughout the process of starting Beaming Health, we’ve talked with hundreds of parents. Many things make each parent’s experience distinct: the age of their child, the financial situation of the family, a parent’s familiarity with autism. But across all of our conversations, one common theme has emerged — it’s hard to find great care.

As Dr. Barry Prizant says in his book, Uniquely Human:

“One of the most challenging aspects of raising a child with autism is finding the helpers — doctors, therapists, educators, and others — who are most effective, who best connect with the child, and who inspire the most progress. Particularly when parents are dealing with autism, or the possibility of autism, for the first time, it can be difficult to know whom to trust, whose advice is worthwhile, which teacher or therapist might be the best match for the child and the family.”

For parents, trying to find high quality autism providers can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack…So much time is spent tracking down answers to a long list of questions: Are they accredited by a third party? What does it even mean to be accredited? Do they have good reviews on Google? What are people saying on Facebook? Are they accepting new patients? By the time parents have scrambled across various websites to find this information, they’re exhausted — and it still isn’t clear for families where to find the best care.

At Beaming Health, we’ve created a resource that takes all of those data points and puts them in one place. Our directory lists providers across the country and consolidates important details such as parent reviews, accreditations, waiting lists, and contact information. But without a way to interpret this data, it can be overwhelming for parents. We’re working to make it easier for parents to make sense of all of this data with our newest offering, the Beaming Score.

The Beaming Score is our best effort to help parents make better care decisions for their family by interpreting everything publicly available about these providers. This score is digestible and easily comparable across providers. In our directory search results, we put the highest scoring providers first.

Calculating the Score

When calculating a score for a provider, we analyze data from a number of sources. Ultimately, it comes down to what other parents say, what other experts say, and how responsive and on top of their stuff a provider is.

Reviews (67% weighting)

Parents and caretakers are the ones who are making care decisions, interacting with providers, and ultimately evaluating how effective the care has been. Therefore, when creating the Beaming Score, we’ve put the most weight behind what other parents think. By aggregating reviews from Google, Facebook, Yelp, and our own Beaming Reviews, we get a view into how other parents have experienced this provider. We know that reviews don’t tell the whole story — parents have different motivations for writing reviews — and without context they should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s also the reason we give weight to other categories below.

Accreditations (25% weighting)

We aren’t the only organization with the goal of evaluating providers — we know that. Several accrediting bodies across the country take the time to research and assess providers in specific disciplines. We recognize the value of these accreditations and therefore, part of the scoring system rewards providers who have these badges. Higher weighting is given to accreditations that are more exclusive or have a higher bar for excellence.

Up-to-Date Profile (8% weighting)

As the leading directory for autism on the internet, we pride ourselves on having data that is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. We rely on providers to update their waiting lists, highlight new services, and adjust their contact information. Therefore, we reward profiles that are complete with information and have been updated recently with a higher Beaming score.

Understanding the Beaming Score

We know there are so many factors that go into determining a provider’s quality and the Beaming Quality Score should be taken with a grain of salt.. We are not evaluating clinical data nor are we making site visits. We are relying on parent reviews, which we know can be biased, and on outside accreditation agencies which we do not have visibility into.

Our Beaming Score is far from perfect. But in our opinion, a start is better than nothing, and we have plans to make this better and better every day. Our goal is to create an industry-leading index for evaluating autism providers and we welcome any feedback on suggestions as we work towards that goal. Have thoughts on our score? You can reach us here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I see a provider’s score?

The Beaming Score is visible on every doctor’s profile in our directory. When you search for a service in your area, the Beaming Score will show up on each search result. If you click into a provider’s profile, you will see a breakdown of their Beaming Score and how they’ve scored in the Reviews, Accreditations, and Up-to-Date Profile categories.

Can you share the details of how exactly a score is calculated?

Yes, we’ve included the complete breakdown below. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us here.

Total Score Possible: 100 points

Starting score: 40 points. Consider this the “you wrote your name on the SAT and get at least 400 points” starting point. By doing this, we believe it produces a more fair variance between scores.

Reviews: Maximum 40 points

• We multiply the average rating of a provider (aggregated from Google, Facebook, Yelp, and Beaming Reviews) by 8 points. For example, if a provider has an average rating of 4.5, their Reviews score is 4.5*8=36 points.
• If a provider has zero reviews, we give them the equivalent of a 3-star average (24 points).
• If a provider with an average rating between 1 to 1.99 has three or fewer reviews, we add 3 points to their score recognizing that the limited sample size may be unduly penalizing the provider’s score. If a provider with an average rating between 4.5 to 5 stars has three or fewer reviews, we subtract 3 points to their score recognizing that the limited sample size may be unduly inflating the provider’s score. For example, if the provider listed above with a rating of 4.5 only has 2 reviews, we subtract 3 points from their score (4.5*8–3=33 points).

Accreditations: Maximum 15 points (this means if a provider has many accreditations totalling say 30 points, they would only be able to score 15 in this category).

• Each accreditation a provider can earn is given a point value based on the exclusivity and rigor to earn. .
• Autism Care Network: 10 points. There are only 20 in the nation and these are widely recognized as centers of excellence for autism care.
• TACA Recommended: 10 points. These providers were specifically called out by a number of members of a nonprofit called The Autism Community in Action (TACA) as top autism providers in the country. There are only ~50 in our directory.
• MAPS Member: 10 points. These providers are accredited by the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS) as specially trained to serve children with special needs. There are only ~50 in our directory.
• BHCOE 3-Year Accreditation: 10 points. In order to receive a 3-year accreditation from the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE), an ABA clinic must undergo a rigorous evaluation process and pass with a top score. There are only 63 in the nation.
• BHCOE 2-Year Accreditation: 5 points. Receiving a 2-year accreditation from BHCOE is no walk in the park k — clinics again must undergo a rigorous process and a 2-year accreditation is a good score. There are 250+ clinics in the nation that have received this accreditation.
• COPAA Member: 5 points. The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates is an independent association of parents, attorneys and advocates. There are 2,800 members across the country. This is the only accreditation an attorney or advocate can earn on Beaming..
• Beaming Verified: 5 points. Beaming Verified means that our team has checked this provider to confirm that it’s in good standing. This includes making sure it has an up-to-date license to operate and that the lead clinicians are appropriately credentialed.
• Beaming Launch Partner: 5 points. Beaming Launch Partners are providers who are highly regarded by other parents and providers and who are innovative leaders in the autism field.
• CASP Member: 3 points. The Council of Autism Service Providers is an organization that helps autism leaders connect and grow. Providers must apply and there are nearly 300 CASP members.
• BHCOE 1-Year and Preliminary Accreditations: 3 points. Providers who receive a 1-year accreditation have undergone a rigorous evaluation and passed with sufficient scores.
• ACE Provider: 2 points. ACEproviders are authorized to offer Learning continuing education by the BACB. There are over 1,600 ACE providers in the country.
• Safety-Care Certified: 2 points. Providers must take 24 hours of training each year to maintain this certification.
• Frequently Visited: 2 points. These providers are some of the most commonly-visited on our site. We know popularity does not necessarily mean quality, but it can be a helpful data point.

Up-to-Date Profile: Maximum 5 points

• Provider has updated their profile within the past two months: 2 points. Providers who keep their profile up-to-date are more likely to be responsive if you as a parent reach out. We hear from families all the time how hard it can be to get in touch with providers. This part of the score is a proxy for likelihood of actually getting a call or email back after reaching out.
• Provider has set up/completed the following sections for their profile. Each of these help parents understand the provider better and facilitate getting in touch with them. Since all of these improve the parent experience, we want to encourage providers to include these with a small reward of Beaming points.
• Contact form or intake scheduling: 1 point.
• Gallery: 0.5 points.
• Video: 0.5 points
• Founder Story: 0.5 points
• FAQ: 0.5 points

What is a good score?

For the Beaming Score, context matters. We encourage parents and providers to look at other providers for context. Generally, we consider a score of 75 or above to be a good score, and you will see these scores all marked in green..

What if a provider doesn’t have any reviews?

We know that getting reviews from parents can be tricky. We also know that there are high quality providers that just don’t have Google, Facebook, or Yelp reviews to vouch for their quality. For that reason, we have a baseline score that we assign to providers with zero reviews that equates to 3 stars. Also, our Beaming Reviews offer an opportunity for parents to directly rate their experience with providers and we are excited to see that collection of reviews grow.

As a provider, how can I improve my score?

Apart from getting more reviews or applying for third-party accreditations, we offer providers an opportunity to marginally increase their score by applying to become Beaming Verified, keeping their profile up-to-date, and adding certain sections to their profile to make it more complete. For example, a provider that adds a contact form, photos, videos, and FAQs can earn up to three additional points. We believe this creates a better experience for parents by having a more complete picture of a provider and making it easier for a parent to get in touch with them.

My practice has multiple clinical locations, how does that work?

Each clinic location will be evaluated individually. If your practice has accreditations that apply to your practice as a whole, each location will receive credit. Otherwise, things like parent reviews and profile updates will apply to individual locations.