Establishing the Clinical Utility of First StepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS Study

February 24, 2026 updated by: Qure Healthcare, LLC
The study uses a randomized controlled study design of pediatric neurologists and developmental pediatricians and front-line (primary care) pediatricians to determine if use of FirstStepDx PLUS and Next StepDx PLUS are associated with higher clinical quality, less variability in clinical practice, and lower costs from decreased resource utilization. The Clinical Performance and Value Vignettes (CPV) used in this study simulate a clinical encounter for individuals with an atypical phenotype and clinical presentation indicative of a possible genetic disorder. We will measure the difference in combined diagnostic and treatment CPV® domain score post-intervention versus baseline comparing intervention and control groups

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The study is an interventional longitudinal study design of physician practice. 225 specialist and general pediatricians without previous exposure to FirstStepDx PLUS or NextStepDx PLUS will be selected from a nationally representative list of approximately 25,000 board-certified pediatricians and 5,000 specialists. These physicians will be randomized into one of three arms: to receive information regarding FirstStepDx PLUS ("Intervention A"), to receive information about FirstStepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS ("Intervention B") for use in clinical practice, and controls not receiving any intervention. Specifically we will test the hypotheses:

  1. Clinical practice, specifically decisions around treatment of individuals with disorders postnatal development including DD, ASD, and ID will vary widely among all physician types. This documentation of variation in practice will demonstrate the need for a new diagnostic service that FirstStepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS would fulfill
  2. FirstStepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS will improve the quality and appropriateness of care and therapeutic plans, as measured by the number of physicians that correctly act on the results of the assay

A Physician Questionnaire will be administered to all physicians. This questionnaire will assess physician, patient and practice characteristics. Data gathered from this set of questions will become part of the baseline (pre-intervention) assessment and used for analysis. At the baseline assessment, Clinical Performance and Value (CPVs) Vignettes, a validated tool to measure physician performance and behavior will be used. CPV vignettes have been used to establish clinical utility in the molecular diagnostic space.

The CPV vignettes used in this study will simulate a clinical encounter for a patient with an atypical clinical presentation indicative of a possible genetic developmental disorder. Each physician will provide open-ended responses regarding clinical care. These responses are scored in five domains (taking a medical history, performing a physical examination, ordering appropriate tests, making a diagnosis and prescribing treatment against explicit evidence and criteria as determined by the literature and by expert physicians. Results are presented as percentage correct controlling for primacy effects using case within pair randomization. Each case will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. All case responses will be completed electronically online and confidential. No physician or practice names are used when reporting the results of the study.

The CPVs will be randomly assigned to physicians for each to complete 3 CPVs™ (one from each type). Each of the CPVs will be scored by physicians for changes in clinical practice including treatment changes, frequency of follow up, laboratory tests and imaging studies ordered - see for scoring sheet.

The objective of this study is to assess how FirstStepDx PLUS (and NextStepDx PLUS) testing affects the variability of clinical practice and resultant impact.

Primary Endpoint Differences in CPV diagnosis/treatment domain score post-intervention versus baseline for the intervention and control group physicians).

Secondary Endpoints

  • Difference in utilization of appropriate treatment including indicated versus unnecessary therapy pre- and post-intervention between intervention and control groups
  • Difference in utilization of laboratory testing such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses, global assessment, and utilization of other laboratory tests pre- and post-intervention, between intervention and control groups
  • Difference in overall Clinical Performance and Value Vignettes (CPV®) scores post-intervention versus baseline between intervention and control groups

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
217

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • San Rafael, California, United States, 94901
        • QURE Healthcare

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Provide consent to participate in the study

  2. Currently practicing board-certified physician in the following specialty areas:

    1. Pediatric neurologists
    2. Developmental pediatricians
    3. General pediatricians
  3. Have practiced as a board-certified physician for greater than 2 but less than 30 years.
  4. English-speaking
  5. Community / non-academic based practice setting
  6. ≥30 pediatric patients under care annually
  7. Access to the internet

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Not board certified in their respective area of care
  2. Academic-based practice
  3. Have previously used FirstStepDx PLUS and/or NextStepDx PLUS in their care delivery
  4. Have practiced as a board-certified physician for less than 2 or greater than 30 years.
  5. Follow <30 pediatric patients annually
  6. Non-English speaking
  7. Unable to access the internet

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Current Practice Arm
Physicians follow current care procedures
Experimental: FirstStep and NextStep Information
Providers receive informational webinar regarding FirstStepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS between rounds and are able to order test results in Round 2
Other: FirstStepDX PLUS and NextStepDX PLUS Webinar
A pre-recorded 20-minute webinar on FirstStepDX PLUS and NextStepDX PLUS
Experimental: FirstStep and NextStep Results
Providers receive informational webinar regarding FirstStepDx PLUS and NextStepDx PLUS between rounds and are specifically prompted to order test results in Round 2
Other: FirstStepDX PLUS and NextStepDX PLUS Webinar
A pre-recorded 20-minute webinar on FirstStepDX PLUS and NextStepDX PLUS
Other: FirstStepDX PLUS and NextStepDX PLUS Test Results
Physicians receive a prompt to order and download FirstStepDX PLUS and NextStepDX PLUS Test Results

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Diagnosis and Treatment Score
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Differences in CPV diagnosis/treatment domain score post-intervention versus baseline for the intervention and control group physicians).
4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall CPV score
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Differences in overall CPV score post-intervention versus baseline for the intervention and control group physicians).
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Qure Healthcare, LLC

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Lineagen

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: John W Peabody, MD PhD, QURE Healthcare

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 7, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 7, 2015

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 10, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 24, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 01-LIN-2014

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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