WHEN, WHERE, WHO AND IT DOESN’T, WHY –
March 26, 2022 – “All day every day, people were demanding Adderall,” she said, adding that “you can’t diagnose people in a half hour.” Cerebral said it encourages proper treatment and its clinicians aren’t required to reach a diagnosis in a half hour. “We simply want to make the right diagnosis and develop the right treatment plan for the safety and quality of care for each patient,” it said.
Digital health startups that provide diagnoses and medications online for ADHD are following a familiar Silicon Valley playbook: They’re using software and the internet to remove the friction surrounding a service that is in high demand. Instead of a ride or groceries, this time it’s prescription drugs. Two of the most prominent new providers of these services for ADHD patients are Cerebral and Done Health, which now treat tens of thousands of patients online and have well-known supporters from the worlds of venture capital and sports. How these companies are managing that demand has been the source of tension among workers trying to keep pace. Current and former employees said they felt Cerebral and Done applied pressure on clinicians to prescribe stimulants, and some of them said the companies’ initial 30-minute video evaluations often weren’t sufficient to diagnose ADHD.
