Reasons for Delays

Delays are often caused by incomplete fields, inaccurate information, illegible content, or difficulty reaching medical personnel. When follow-up is needed, the research team must contact the submitter and/or prescriber, and the length of the delay depends largely on how quickly key staff connected to the prescriber can be reached. To help prevent delays and expedite completion of consents, please ensure that all contact information on the CFS 431-A form is accurate and up to date. Because office support staff are often unable to provide the clinical details required, direct access to the physician, whether through a personal extension, direct staff contact, or an email address for follow-up, is especially helpful in maintaining communication and completing the consent process efficiently. The following list provides common reasons for delays.

Demographic Information:

  • Email and fax where the completed consent CFS 431-B can be sent.
  • Phone number with direct extension prescriber or prescriber’s direct staff can be reached to provide additional clinical information if needed.

Clinical Information:

  • Accurate name and DOB
  • Height and weight and date last taken (should be up-to-date within the last six months)
  • All psychiatric diagnoses
  • List ALL medications the youth is currently administered.
  • List ALL medications that have been discontinued since the last consent or in the past six months and if they are aware WHY. 
  • Specific symptoms that the requested medication targets.  Do not list diagnoses as symptoms (e.g. hyperactivity and inattention are symptoms of an ADHD diagnosis).

Insufficient rationales: Please provide specific rationales for requesting more aggressive psychotropic treatment, such as polypharmacy, prescribing for youth under six years old.

  • Provide Polypharmacy rationales:
    • List mono-therapy past trials of medications including the max dose the trial reached and reason for trial's failure.
    • For adding a 2nd medication without maximizing the 1st medication being used to treat similar or overlapping symptoms.
    • For using or continuing 2 medications from the same drug classification.
    • For using or continuing 2 medications to treat the same condition or symptoms.
    • Report Discontinued medications. Often a new medication is chosen to replace another medication; however, the discontinued medication is not reported. What appears to be polypharmacy is simply a failure to report that a current medication will be discontinued.
    • Provide a long-term plan to assess the need for each medication or to simplify medication regimen.
  • Non-first line medication rationales:
    • For using medication with no research supporting the safety and efficacy in children and adolescents.
    • Provide peer reviewed research to support.
  • Children under 6 assessment information:
    • List all alternative treatments that have been tried, such as behavioral interventions, counseling, or other programming.
    • Include all assessment tools and the severity of symptoms

General information:

  • Emergency/STAT medications: Include date and time they were given, route of administration, and reason medication were administered (i.e. What symptoms were treated by this emergency medication?)
  • HFS Non preferred medication is requested: If not choosing an HFS preferred drug please include the rationale for choosing a non-preferred medication (e.g. Quillivant XR, Jornay PM, Remeron Sol Tab, Paroxetine, etc.).
  • Previously requested information is not provided:  Review previous consents and include any additional information requested from the CSP Consultants (titled as "MD Comment" on every CFS 431-B) to be included in the next request.
  • Unable to contact medical personnel: Accurate contact information is very helpful and will expedite the completion of consents. Often the supporting staff at physician’s offices are unable to accurately complete the necessary clinical data. Direct contact to the physician, via a personal extension, or the physician's availability to call with the DCFS consent team would be helpful to maintain communication and rapidly complete the consent process.

 

Call (800) 828-2179 to get a copy of youth's most recent consent.