In January 2024, New Orleans-based Ochsner Health launched its first ADHD clinic. A year later, it’s already improving patient care, wait times and provider confidence.
The clinic was created in response to a surge of interest in adult ADHD assessment and treatment. Providers reported being overwhelmed with the high volume of patients seeking referrals creating a bottleneck for patients with other conditions.
“Given that demand, we had to think differently about how to meet patient needs,” Lisa Gentry, LMSW, MPH, FACHE, vice president of behavioral health services at Ochsner Health, told Becker’s. “We needed a structured referral flow to manage volume, ensure compliance with state laws and deliver high-quality care. ADHD is difficult to diagnose in adults and often misunderstood, so our goal was to create a standardized, evidence-based process to provide accurate diagnoses and effective treatment.”
The first ADHD clinic opened at Ochsner Medical Center New Orleans, and the system plans to launch smaller versions at two regional locations. The clinic is run by psychology doctoral interns, social workers and advanced practice providers.
How it works
When the psychiatry department receives an ADHD referral, they send the patient a standardized message through MyChart. This message includes an ADHD Clinic booklet that contains information about the clinic, as well as informed consent and partnership agreements.
Then, patients are invited to attend a free virtual orientation seminar. These orientations welcome 10 patients per week and explain adult ADHD and how the clinic works. If interested in continuing, patients are scheduled for psychosocial prescreenings that gather their history, evaluate inclusion and exclusion criteria, and assess for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and childhood and adult ADHD.
“We want to ensure the diagnosis is accurate, as many patients present with ADHD-like symptoms that are actually due to another condition,” Ms. Gentry said.
If patients meet all criteria, they are scheduled for a standardized ADHD intake with an advanced practice provider. At this appointment, they are either diagnosed and treated for ADHD, diagnosed and treated for another condition with overlapping symptoms or referred for further diagnostic testing as needed.
If the patient is diagnosed with ADHD, they can begin treatment through the clinic to receive ongoing medication management and psychotherapy and psychoeducational courses provided by psychology doctoral interns. After a year of treatment, they will be transitioned back to their primary care provider for maintenance.
The results so far
As of early April, over 500 patients have attended the orientation seminar — “far more than we could have accommodated individually,” Ms. Gentry said.
Of those who attended orientation, about 55% went on to do prescreen and qualify for an intake. Among those, 14% were diagnosed and treated for ADHD. This mirrors expected ADHD prevalence in outpatient clinics.
The system is still collecting data on patient outcomes, as its first patients are now beginning to transition out of the yearlong program.
But for the system and providers, the clinic is already showing success.
“We’ve noticed increased provider confidence,” Ms. Gentry said. “They feel more equipped to manage ADHD cases.”
Across the system, the clinic has also shortened wait times, improved access and helped manage patient volume more efficiently, she said.
Want to do something similar?
Ms. Gentry said building a clinic like this takes a lot of upfront investment to create the content and standardize the process, but “once you do, it’s scalable and consistent.”
“Standardization has been key,” she said, “not only for providers and patients but also for schedulers. Everyone knows what to expect, and that consistency allows us to deliver equitable, evidence-based care across the board.”
