If you're reading this, you've probably already been through some version of Kaiser's adult ADHD clinical process, and you're looking for another way. You're not the first. It's one of the most common reasons people come to us.
I've been practicing within Mental Health since 1984. Here's what I can tell you about what an outside evaluation involves, what it costs, and what it can and can't do for you.
Why people look elsewhere
In my experience, patients who leave the Kaiser process have usually run into one of four walls.
They were asked for collateral information from someone who knew them before age 12, and their parents have died, the report cards are long gone, or they were the quiet child nobody worried about.
They have been informed that the results of the evaluation were "inconclusive," and that this is a definitive "no."
They were told to treat anxiety or depression first, and it didn't sit right, because the anxiety may be the consequence of the attention problem rather than the cause.
Or they simply wanted a second look from someone else.
What a real evaluation involves
The thing I've learned over four decades is that ADHD is diagnosed in a conversation, not on a form.
Developmental history matters enormously. What school was like. What you struggled with. What you got in trouble for, or didn't. Standardized rating scales are useful and we use them, but they aren't the diagnosis.
Screening for what else produces inattention matters just as much: sleep disorders, thyroid problems, depression, anxiety, substance use. Inattention has many causes, and getting this wrong in either direction does real harm.
Where collateral information is available, it helps. Where it isn't, we work with what we have. Being unable to produce a witness from your childhood does not make you undiagnosable.
At our Berkeley office, you'll always be seen in person, by me or by one of our nurse practitioners. Every evaluation is physician supervised.
What it costs
Our initial evaluation is $225. We're private-pay, and we can provide a superbill for out-of-network reimbursement, though whether your plan reimburses anything varies, and Kaiser HMO plans generally don't cover out-of-network care at all.
Will Kaiser accept it?
Honestly, sometimes. Members report a range of outcomes. Some have had an outside diagnosis accepted and treatment continued. Others were asked to repeat the evaluation, particularly after a gap in care. A detailed report with documented findings and reasoning travels better than a one-page letter. Ask member services before you assume either way.
Sometimes the answer is no
I want to be clear about this. Not everyone who comes to us for an ADHD evaluation has ADHD. Depression, chronic poor sleep, anxiety, and trauma all disrupt attention, and I've seen all of them mistaken for it.
What you should get either way is an explanation. Not just a yes or no, but why. If it isn't ADHD, you deserve to know what it is.