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When I set out with my collaborator Eric Fleegler, MD, MPH, to build a web-based tracking system for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we focused on a single problem—getting parents and teachers to fill out symptom questionnaires in time to help doctors make informed clinical decisions at follow-up visits. We had no inkling of the possibilities that this kind of software platform could hold, or how it might grow in the future. …
This is how it used to be when I saw a child with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: “You know, Dr. Chan, I really don’t think the medicine’s working,” the parent would tell me. “I just don’t see any difference in his behavior.”
“Well, the medicine has probably worn off by the time you see him at home,” I’d say. “What does his teacher think?”
“She hasn’t called me, so I assume there hasn’t been any trouble.” Then: “Oh—I was supposed to give her that questionnaire to fill out, wasn’t I? I’m so sorry, I totally forgot.”
As a developmental-behavioral pediatrician specializing in ADHD, I used to have this conversation with parents at almost every single follow-up visit, leaving me frustrated. …