ADHD Evaluations
At Northeast Cincinnati Pediatrics, we want your child’s educational and behavioral experience to be the best one possible. We understand that some children may have attention issues that lead to difficulties with learning and focus. If you have concerns that your child my have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), we are here to help.
See below for more specific information:
Initial Evaluation Process
If you are concerned that your child my have ADD/ADHD, please follow these steps.
First:
Review the symptoms of ADD/ADHD at the following website: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adhd/symptoms-causes/syc-20350889
Second:
If this sounds like your child, or your child’s teacher has expressed a concern about possible attention issues, call the office that you most frequently visit to talk to one of our nurses.
Third:
One of our nurses will discuss your concerns and send you a link to complete online documents for ADHD evaluation through a secure web portal run by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Fourth:
When all documents are completed (by at least one parent and one teacher), your child’s physician will review the results. We ask that you please call the office one week after you have completed the online forms to schedule a consult appointment with your child’s primary physician.
Fifth:
At your first consult appointment, your physician will discuss with you (and your child) the diagnosis and possible interventions. It is the discretion of your physician whether medication is prescribed at this appointment or another appointment is scheduled to further discuss treatment options.
Please note:
We ask that all children have a current Well Child Visit within the previous 12 months before we will schedule any consult appointment.
If your child’s Well Child Visit is not current, we ask that you schedule that appointment separately from the consult appointment to allow for proper attention to be paid to BOTH preventative care (at the Well Child Visit) and your ADD/ADHD concerns.
If you’re child sees one of our Nurse Practitioners as their primary provider, we ask that they schedule ADD/ADHD appointments with one of our physicians because under current Ohio law, PNPs are not able to prescribe most of the medications that are used to commonly treat ADD/ADHD. You can still see your PNP for all other visits.
Follow up Evaluation
If your child has been started on a medication for ADD/ADHD, we ask that you schedule an initial follow-up appointment 1 month after beginning medication. At this appointment, we will check your child’s weight and blood pressure as well as discuss any side effects your child may be experiencing. Your physician may discuss adjusting the dose of medication or changing medications if that is appropriate. Please be sure that all follow-up Vanderbilt forms are completed through the ADHD portal before this visit.
After your initial follow-up appointment, it is the discretion of your physician how often they would like to see your child back in the office. In general, we ask that all children on ADD/ADHD medications be seen for a medication follow-up appointment in our office once every 6 months.
Medication Refills
If your child has been prescribed a stimulant medication (e.g. Adderall, Concerta, Focalin, Metadate, Ritalin, Vyvanse, etc.) for control of their ADD/ADHD, you will need to call our office once per month to request a refill. We ask that you call 7-10 days before your child will need a new prescription. When you call the office, please ask our receptionist to direct your call to the medication refill line.
All stimulant prescriptions must either be picked up in person in our office or mailed to your home. By law, we are unable to fax these prescriptions to the pharmacy or call them in. Our physician on call is unable to refill these prescriptions as well. If you use a prescription mail-in service, we may be able to write a 90 day prescription for your child’s medication, however you will still need to pick up a refill once every 3 months.
We ask that your child have a current Well Child Visit within the past 12 months and a medication check within the past 6 months before we refill any ADD/ADHD medications. If these appointments are not current, you will be asked to schedule an appointment before your child’s medication will be refilled.
If your child has been prescribed a non-stimulant medication for ADD/ADHD (e.g. Strattera, Intuniv, Kapvay), we ARE able to call in refills over the phone or write refills on your initial prescription. We do still ask that you call 7-10 days prior to needing a refill.