QbTest enhanced ADHD services at multi-site provider Meridian Advanced Psychiatry
Meridian Advanced Psychiatry (MAP) has strived to provide specialized medical services in Idaho – in particular, addressing the increasing demand for ADHD diagnosis and management.
Recognizing a growing need for comprehensive ADHD services supported by effective diagnostic tools, Chief Executive Officer Kyle Ronnau and Chief Business Development Officer Kevin Hulsey set out to improve the clinic’s capabilities.
The challenge: Ensuring quality ADHD care across sites
ADHD diagnosis often relies heavily on subjective measures like patient self-reports and questionnaires, which when combined with bias from both the patient and clinician, can lead to inaccuracies in diagnosis and treatment plans.
The primary challenge across MAP clinics was the limitations of the ADHD diagnostic tool they were considering using at the time, which fell short in offering comprehensive insights into patient symptoms. It only provided binary ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers without any clinical context, which stopped clinicians from interpreting and understanding their patient’s conditions thoroughly.
With many patients attributing a lot of their issues to ADHD before a formal diagnosis, it’s becoming increasingly important for clinicians to be able to get unbiased data into their performance.
Kyle commented: “They’ve come up with a conclusion that they have ADHD and then their brain fills in the gap.
“When you ask questions, like on an ASRS, their brains are quickly saying ‘if I say yes, it’s supportive of any ADHD diagnosis, if I say no, it’s not’. Then they believe it, so I don’t think you’re getting honest answers out of them, but not on purpose.”
Kyle noticed the amount of time his clinicians spent sifting through patients’ lived experiences to assess their condition, prompting the search for a better solution which gave clinicians confidence in their clinical decision making – QbTest.
Solution: Integrating QbTest across Meridian Advanced Psychiatry clinics
MAP adopted QbTest to not only objectively measure attention, impulsivity, and activity to get a deeper understanding of its patient’s symptoms beyond a simple binary result that alternative tools offered, but to reduce wait times and increase diagnostic confidence in their clinicians.
Integrating QbTest into MAP’s diagnostic process involved several steps:
1. Training and familiarization: Clinicians went through comprehensive training to understand the functionality of QbTest and how to interpret the results.
2. Process integration: QbTest was seamlessly integrated into the clinic’s diagnostic workflow across different sites, making sure that it bolstered existing practices and improved the overall diagnostic accuracy.
3. Continuous evaluation: The clinic continuously monitored the effectiveness of QbTest, gathering feedback from clinicians and patients.
Outcome: Efficient ADHD pathways across multiple sites
Adopting QbTest into MAP’s clinics resulted in a marked improvement in its ability to diagnose and manage ADHD. The tool’s comprehensive data allowed clinicians to: