How research and technology are shaping the future of ADHD assessment

How do research and real-world data support innovation in ADHD health care?

Before a new health technology can be used in the real world, it needs to undergo research and testing to ensure it is safe and accurate. However, it is often only when a product reaches clinicians and patients that health tech companies learn how people actually use it and what they need from the technology.

As Ragini explains, to fully develop an innovative new health technology, you need both the clinical research and the real-world data:

“There’s a difference between testing something within a lab and saying under these constructs it does what we think, and hope, and say it does, but then also putting it into the real world and seeing how does it perform. Does it still continue to capture, record, measure, what we originally assessed and intended?”

How do we build on research and innovation to drive forward improvements in ADHD care?

Innovation in health care moves quickly. Research discoveries that are groundbreaking at the time quickly become established practices and form the basis of new technologies.

Ragini shares how digital health companies aim to improve the health care systems and technologies already in place, and that it’s not something they can do alone. The real-world insights of clinicians are critical to making changes:

Pushing new boundaries in ADHD care
QbMobile smartphone ADHD testing

One example of innovation in action is the development of QbMobile. Rob explains that QbMobile uses the same concepts as our existing Qb testing technology, but uses a cellphone’s camera to track patient movement. Patient responses are recorded by tapping the screen.

QbMobile has the potential to make ADHD testing even more accessible, using technology that is already familiar and readily available to most patients. Early tests have shown positive feedback from patients, according to Rob:

“It is very accepted by test-takers. It was 95% accepted from those that were surveyed about how the test was easy to use, that there were not a lot of issues or complications while taking the test.”

A global database of over 1 million ADHD patients’ results

We recently tested our 1 millionth patient using Qb testing technologies. That large database of results, covering patients from across the world, sets Qb testing apart.

“We’ve collected so much data, and we can then better inform our clinicians on what they are looking at when they are seeing the results from our assessments.”

Remote treatment monitoring of ADHD patients

Another area of innovation discussed by Danielle, Ragini, and Rob is using Qb testing for medication titration and treatment monitoring, including remotely.

Ragini shares how treatment monitoring with a digital ADHD test can give clinicians confidence that they’re on the right track with medication choices, or indicate they might want to pause a treatment and try something else.

There are also improvements in patient outcomes: improving accessibility and reducing travel time when introducing remote testing. As Ragini explains:

“We can still pretty accurately assess how they’re doing and not create an extra burden for the patient of taking time off, having to come to a clinic that may or may not be nearby. It changes a lot for both the clinician and patient.”