ADD/ADHD Program Underway for Children and Adolescents in Vermont
Last year in Vermont, Magellan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont began a program to help improve identification and treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) / Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents.
We established this program for several reasons:
- Significant impairment and risks can result if ADD/ADHD goes undiagnosed/untreated
- Risk factors include depression, conduct disorders, anxiety disorders, psychoactive substance use disorders, and the early initiation of cigarette smoking and progression to daily smoking
- Early identification can reduce morbidity.
The program addresses:
- Appropriate referral to behavioral health care
- Establishing contacts and coordination among providers in Vermont
- Education and outreach to members and/or their parents
- Outreach to providers.
We encourge you to help in these efforts to improve member care by ensuring that you coordinate your patients’ care with their primary care physicans. Also, please be aware of established NCQA HEDIS® measures for managed behavioral health care organizations, on which improvement is needed:
- Initiation – for members age 6 to 12, a visit with a practitioner must occur within 30 days of a prescription being filled
- Continuation and Maintenance – children age 6 to 12 who have been on medication for at least 210 days should have had at least two follow-up visits (in addition to the visit in the Initiation Phase) within 270 days (9 months) after the initiation phase has ended.
The Magellan Northeast Care Management Center has developed an ADHD website resource list that we hope will be helpful for you in serving members diagnosed with ADHD.