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The Doctor Is In
Getting ADHD Help
from a Pediatrician By Katherine Bontrager
from a Pediatrician
Dr. Lichtenstein reports that through their program, they've worked with about 90 doctors and the response has been striking. "There were 15 doctors who've decided they're not ready to do this," he says. "But over 80 percent are ready, and the results have been phenomenal."
Dr. Lichtenstein says participants in the program had a baseline chart review performed that involves looking at the charts of 10 children who've been diagnosed with ADHD in the preceding two years. These charts were reviewed to see how close the physicians were to complying with the guidelines of the AAP.
"We've done extensive data collection on all patients who've been newly diagnosed with ADHD in these practices following our training intervention," Dr. Lichtenstein says. "And we've been very pleased to find good, substantial improvement after the intervention. We're not quite at the targeted outcome yet and we're in ongoing dialogue with the offices, but we're finding that not only are most offices maintaining their improvement, but [they] are continuing to improve over time."
And an even better sign? Dr. Lichtenstein says patients appear to be more satisfied with the results.
"They like the increased attention, the shortened time frame to get things diagnosed, and they like the fact that there's a rigorous plan to get things accomplished using input from both parents and teachers," he says. "There's good evidence that kids seen more frequently by their doctor end up staying on medication longer, their parents are less afraid of the long-term side effects of the medications and the behavior in the home and in schools is more consistently improved."
And that's welcome news for children, parents and doctors alike.