Disseminating a Model Intervention to Promote Improved Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Care in the Community

Disseminating a Model Intervention to Promote Improved Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Care in the Community

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has established a set of consensus guidelines for pediatricians to follow. These guidelines can be challenging to implement in typical community-based practices. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) has developed a program called the ADHD Collaborative to promote the adoption of these guidelines among community pediatricians. The program focuses on modifying the office system using academic detailing and quality improvement (QI) methodology to accommodate prescribed practice changes. The ADHD Collaborative has been very successful at recruiting practices in the Greater Cincinnati area, changing practice behaviors, and sustaining these practice behaviors over time at minimal cost to the project and to the office practice. Now that sustainability and effectiveness have been established, the next step is to modify the ADHD Collaborative model to make it amenable to widespread dissemination. The primary goal of the proposed study is to modify the ADHD Collaborative intervention to make it transportable and then evaluate this version in terms of effectiveness, consumer satisfaction, and costs.. A transportable intervention is described that utilizes telehealth videoconferencing, a web portal, and long-distance data collection. Initially, three pediatric practices will be recruited to test and refine the distal intervention delivery methodology. Then, eight new pediatric practices will be randomly assigned to receive the distal intervention or to a control group (treatment as usual). Information about pediatric practice behavior will be collected at baseline, 6-months, and 1-year post-baseline. The study design will allow for a preliminary assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of the distal intervention in terms of rates of evidence-based practice behaviors to patients, change in pediatrician attitudes, consumer satisfaction, and costs.

This intervention includes mapping and redesign of office flow to facilitate adherence to AAP ADHD guidelines as well as didactic sessions related to diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Didactics emphasize the importance of obtaining parent and teacher behavioral ratings (e.g. Vanderbilt ADHD Rating Scales) at the time of the initial assessment for ADHD and during follow-up after initiating medication treatment and making a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV) based ADHD diagnosis. Practices are given a web-based ADHD portal to assist them in creating a patient registry and to help in obtaining parent and teacher ratings scales. The intervention lasts for 6 months.

This intervention includes mapping and redesign of office flow to facilitate adherence to AAP ADHD guidelines as well as didactic sessions related to diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Didactics emphasize the importance of obtaining parent and teacher behavioral ratings (e.g. Vanderbilt ADHD Rating Scales) at the time of the initial assessment for ADHD and during follow-up after initiating medication treatment and making a DSM-IV based ADHD diagnosis. Practices are given a web-based ADHD portal to assist them in creating a patient registry and to help in obtaining parent and teacher ratings scales.

Percentage of patients across pediatricians in each randomized group for whom the pediatrician collected teacher ratings to monitor treatment response

Inclusion Criteria: pediatric practice with at least 2 physicians Exclusion Criteria: no electronic billing system

Epstein JN, Langberg JM, Lichtenstein PK, Mainwaring BA, Luzader CP, Stark LJ. Community-wide intervention to improve the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder assessment and treatment practices of community physicians. Pediatrics. 2008 Jul;122(1):19-27. doi: 10.1542/peds.2007-2704.

Epstein JN, Langberg JM, Lichtenstein PK, Kolb R, Altaye M, Simon JO. Use of an Internet portal to improve community-based pediatric ADHD care: a cluster randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2011 Nov;128(5):e1201-8. doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-0872. Epub 2011 Oct 17.