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The CAARS-2 (Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales, 2nd Edition) is a 2023 self-report and observer rating scale measuring ADHD symptoms, impairment, and response style in adults 18 and older. Psychologists and psychiatrists use it to quantify symptom severity inside adult ADHD evaluations. This page covers how to write up CAARS-2 results, with a fictional sample, reviewer-flagged errors, and free templates.
Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other qualified mental health clinicians; publisher qualification level B
Prescribers and psychiatric teams, disability and testing accommodation offices, employers, payers, referring primary care
150 to 400 words for the CAARS-2 section · administration 10 to 20 minutes per full-length form
Multi-informant adult ADHD rating scale
Adult ADHD diagnostic evaluations, first-time adult diagnosis, medication and treatment monitoring, accommodation documentation, disability and forensic contexts
Published by MHS (2023); replaces the retired 1999 CAARS; described here for write-up purposes, no test content reproduced
The Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales, Second Edition (CAARS-2, styled CAARS 2 by its publisher) is a norm-referenced ADHD rating-scale family by C. Keith Conners, Drew Erhardt, and Elizabeth P. Sparrow, published by Multi-Health Systems (MHS) in 2023 as the revision of the 1999 CAARS. Two rater perspectives cover every evaluation: a Self-Report completed by the adult being assessed and an Observer form completed by someone who knows them well, each in three lengths (full-length, 97 items; Short, 55 self-report and 52 observer; ADHD Index, 12 items), for ages 18 and older. The full-length forms yield T scores, standard scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10, for five content scales (Inattention/Executive Dysfunction, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Emotional Dysregulation, Negative Self-Concept), three DSM symptom scales aligned to DSM-5-TR criteria, and the 12-item ADHD Index, plus a Response Style Analysis (a new Negative Impression Index, an updated Inconsistency Index, Omitted Items, and Pace for online administrations), Critical and Screening Items covering suicidality, self-harm, anxiety, and sadness, and item-level Impairment & Functional Outcome ratings. Norms come from 2,640 adults (1,320 per rater type, drawn from the US and Canada and stratified to census targets) across seven age bands reaching 70 and older, with General Population or ADHD Reference comparison samples and combined-gender or gender-specific options. Administration and scoring run digitally through MHS's online platform, on screen or by entering responses from a printed form; hand scoring does not exist for this edition. Edition status matters as of July 2026: MHS retired the original CAARS, ending online product sales on October 31, 2024 and platform scoring after May 31, 2025, so every new administration is a CAARS-2 administration.
The load-bearing distinction for write-ups: CAARS-2 scores quantify how much ADHD-consistent difficulty an adult and the people around them report, and that is all they do. A diagnosis under DSM-5-TR needs evidence the ratings cannot supply alone, including symptoms present before age 12 and impairment across settings, so the results section reports elevations and lets the whole evaluation carry the conclusion. A second trap is specific to this instrument's transition: many sample reports and template pages online still describe the 1999 edition's scales (Inattention/Memory Problems, Hyperactivity/Restlessness, Impulsivity/Emotional Lability, Problems with Self-Concept). The CAARS-2 restructured that architecture, splitting the old Impulsivity/Emotional Lability scale into separate Impulsivity and Emotional Dysregulation scales, so the scale names in a results section quietly announce which edition, and which norms, produced the scores. A write-up that names the current scales and the norm reference, keeps validity language factual, and subordinates the instrument to the full evaluation, in the pattern of a psychological evaluation report or a psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, is most of what separates a defensible CAARS-2 section from a score printout with sentences around it.
Psychologists and neuropsychologists write up CAARS-2 results inside adult ADHD diagnostic evaluations, where the paired self and observer forms supply the quantified, cross-informant view of everyday functioning that an interview alone cannot; psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners use it to structure symptom severity and monitor treatment around medication decisions; college students and professionals carry CAARS-2-based reports to disability offices and testing agencies as accommodation documentation; and evaluators in disability and forensic contexts reach for it precisely because its Response Style Analysis gives validity a vocabulary. It is the right tool when the question is dimensional and adult: how much ADHD-consistent difficulty does this adult report, does someone who knows them well observe the same pattern, and how does severity change with treatment. The instruments around it carry their own loads: the Conners 4 covers ages 6 to 18 and hands off to the CAARS-2 at 18, the two built to be aligned for a lifespan approach; the ASRS is a free WHO screener that flags rather than quantifies; the BAARS-IV adds normed retrospective childhood forms, a strength for onset documentation; the DIVA-5 is a structured diagnostic interview that maps DSM criteria rather than producing norm-referenced scores; and when the referral question is executive function in daily life rather than ADHD symptom severity, an executive function rating such as the BRIEF-2 family (BRIEF2A for adults) carries that lane. The CAARS-2 write-up is where self-report, observer evidence, validity indicators, and impairment ratings get integrated into one adult ADHD account, clearly subordinated to the full evaluation.
No statute, payer, or publisher mandates a results-section format. The sequence below is the convention experienced evaluators converge on because it survives review: it names the edition and norms, reports response style before scores, keeps self and observer evidence distinct, and separates what the ratings show now from the childhood-onset evidence DSM-5-TR requires. Each section carries the pitfall that most often undermines it.
Measures, forms, raters, and norms. Name the instrument and edition, the form length used (full-length, Short, or ADHD Index), each rater and their relationship to the client, completion dates, and the norm reference: General Population or ADHD Reference comparison, combined-gender or gender-specific norms. Pitfall: 1999-edition scale names in a CAARS-2 report. Writing "Inattention/Memory Problems" or "Impulsivity/Emotional Lability" announces that a retired instrument's template produced the section, and with the original CAARS unscoreable on the publisher's platform since May 2025, reviewers read old names as a currency problem.
Response style and rating quality. Report the Response Style Analysis first and factually: Negative Impression Index, Inconsistency Index, Omitted Items, and Pace for online administrations, plus anything situational that could color the ratings. Keep the language non-accusatory in both directions. Pitfall: treating validity indicators as dispositive. The first independent CAARS-2 study found the Negative Impression Index missed 92 percent of coached simulators, so a clean index is supportive evidence about how the form was completed, never proof of accuracy, and an elevated one is a reason for caution, never a malingering verdict.
Critical and Screening Items. State whether the Critical Items (suicidal thoughts or attempts, self-injury) or Screening Items (anxiety, sadness) were endorsed, and what follow-up occurred. One disposition sentence closes the loop. Pitfall: leaving a flagged item inside the score report. A reviewer who can see the flag but not your response reads a risk-assessment gap, not a formatting choice.
Self-report results. Report the five content scales and the three DSM symptom scales with T scores and the manual's qualitative descriptors stated in words, keeping descriptor language consistent across scales. Pitfall: promoting a number to a diagnosis. No T score is a diagnostic threshold, and no authority publishes a cutoff that establishes ADHD.
Observer results and cross-informant integration. Report the observer's scores in the same order, then integrate: where the raters converge, where they diverge, and what the divergence means. Moderate agreement is expected, the publisher's own inter-rater figures run r = .44 to .54, and each perspective contributes information the other cannot. Pitfall: averaging raters into one number or crowning one rater correct. Divergence is usually setting and perspective information, and longitudinal data show adults with childhood ADHD tend to under-report relative to informants.
ADHD Index. Report it as what it is: a 12-item screening indicator built to differentiate adults with ADHD from the general population. Pitfall: the Index written as the verdict. A high Index score raises the prior probability that a full evaluation will support the diagnosis; it does not make the diagnosis, and coached simulators earn high Index scores easily.
Impairment and functional outcomes. Summarize the Impairment & Functional Outcome item endorsements across broad domains (work, school, relationships) and specific tasks (money management, driving, sleep), and connect them to DSM-5-TR Criterion D and to any accommodation rationale. Pitfall: symptom counts with no functional story. Accommodation reviewers and payers act on documented limitation, not on elevation alone.
Childhood-onset evidence. Give DSM-5-TR Criterion B its own paragraph built from retrospective history, school records, and collateral report, and say plainly how onset before age 12 was established. Pitfall: citing current CAARS-2 elevations as onset evidence. The instrument measures current functioning; it cannot testify about childhood, and reviewers know it.
Interpretive summary and recommendations linkage. Answer the referral question by integrating ratings with interview, records, and any performance or validity testing, state what the scores do and do not establish, and tie each recommendation to a finding, including any re-rating plan on the same edition and norms. Pitfall: conclusions that outrun the data. "Results confirm ADHD" is a sentence no rating scale can carry; "results are consistent with, and corroborated by," survives review.
MEASURES, FORMS, AND RATERS Instrument/edition: CAARS-2 (2023) Form length: [full-length / Short / ADHD Index] Raters: [self; observer name or role, relationship, time known] Norm reference: [General Population / ADHD Reference; combined-gender or gender-specific; age band] Dates completed: [self] [observer] RESPONSE STYLE AND RATING QUALITY [Negative Impression, Inconsistency, Omitted Items, Pace: stated factually; circumstances that could color ratings] CRITICAL AND SCREENING ITEMS [Endorsed / not endorsed; follow-up conducted and documented] SELF-REPORT RESULTS [Content scales + DSM symptom scales: T scores + descriptors in words; no score treated as a diagnostic cutoff] OBSERVER RESULTS AND CROSS-INFORMANT INTEGRATION [Each rater's scores; convergence and divergence interpreted, not averaged; what disagreement means here] ADHD INDEX [Screening indicator framing; never reported as a diagnosis] IMPAIRMENT AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES [Domains and tasks endorsed; link to Criterion D and any accommodation rationale] CHILDHOOD-ONSET EVIDENCE (CRITERION B) [History, school records, collateral; kept separate from current ratings] INTERPRETIVE SUMMARY (answer the referral question) [What converges across sources; what the scores do NOT establish; differential considered] RECOMMENDATIONS LINKAGE [Each recommendation tied to a finding; re-rating plan on the same edition and norms] Evaluator signature / credentials: Date:
Free to use and share, no signup. The PDF includes a one-page cheat sheet with section-by-section pitfalls and a pre-sign checklist; the DOCX is the blank results-section skeleton, ready to adapt.
Scenario: a 34-year-old project manager self-referred for a first-time adult ADHD evaluation after repeated workplace difficulties, with her spouse completing the Observer form. Self and observer evidence converge, the internally consistent shape where the write-up's job is to integrate sources and still separate current ratings from childhood-onset proof. This is the CAARS-2 section of the larger evaluation report only, condensed but structurally complete. All details are fictional.
Client: A.R., 34 · Referral: first-time adult ADHD evaluation, self-referred · Evaluator: S. Beaumont, PhD, Licensed Psychologist · Ratings completed: 07/09/2026 (self), 07/10/2026 (observer) · Report date: 07/17/2026
Measures and administration: The Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales, Second Edition (CAARS-2) full-length Self-Report was completed by A.R. and the full-length Observer form by her spouse of nine years, both online, as part of an evaluation that also included a diagnostic interview keyed to DSM-5-TR criteria, developmental and academic history, review of school records, and a performance validity screen, reported in their own sections. Scores are T scores (mean 50, SD 10) referenced to the CAARS-2 General Population comparison sample with combined-gender norms for her age band. Severity language below follows the manual's qualitative descriptors, stated in words; no score is treated as a diagnostic threshold.
Response style and rating quality: Both forms were fully completed, with no omitted items and typical response pace for online administration. The Negative Impression Index and Inconsistency Index were unremarkable for both raters. These indicators support, but cannot by themselves establish, that the forms were completed consistently and without exaggeration, and they are read here alongside the interview and record evidence rather than in place of it. No recent life disruption was identified that would be expected to color either rater's responses.
Critical and Screening Items: Neither rater endorsed the Critical Items covering suicidal thoughts or attempts or self-injury. A.R. endorsed Screening Items for anxiety at low frequency; this was explored in the clinical interview and is addressed in the diagnostic formulation section of this report.
| CAARS-2 scale | Self-Report T | Observer T |
|---|---|---|
| Inattention/Executive Dysfunction | 74 | 68 |
| Hyperactivity | 58 | 55 |
| Impulsivity | 61 | 57 |
| Emotional Dysregulation | 68 | 64 |
| Negative Self-Concept | 66 | 59 |
| DSM ADHD Inattentive Symptoms | 75 | 69 |
| DSM ADHD Hyperactive/Impulsive Symptoms | 59 | 56 |
| DSM Total ADHD Symptoms | 69 | 64 |
Self-report results: A.R.'s ratings produced clear elevations on Inattention/Executive Dysfunction and DSM ADHD Inattentive Symptoms, in ranges the manual characterizes as markedly above average, indicating frequent difficulty sustaining attention, organizing work, and following tasks through. Emotional Dysregulation and Negative Self-Concept were moderately elevated, consistent with her interview account of frustration spikes and longstanding self-criticism. Hyperactivity and Impulsivity scales and the DSM Hyperactive/Impulsive scale were not meaningfully elevated.
Observer results and cross-informant integration: Her spouse's ratings followed the same profile shape at slightly lower elevations, with Inattention/Executive Dysfunction and DSM ADHD Inattentive Symptoms clearly elevated and hyperactive/impulsive content unremarkable. The direction of the small self-observer difference is common in self-referred adults, and both raters' inattentive-domain scores are independently elevated, so the two perspectives corroborate rather than contradict each other. Neither rater is treated as more correct; the convergence across home and work descriptions strengthens the cross-setting evidence DSM-5-TR requires.
ADHD Index: The CAARS-2 ADHD Index was elevated for both raters. The Index is a 12-item screening indicator built to differentiate adults with ADHD from the general population; it raises the probability that a full evaluation will support the diagnosis and is given no diagnostic weight of its own here.
Impairment and functional outcomes: Both raters endorsed impairment items concentrated in work performance (missed deadlines, incomplete projects) and household management, with A.R. additionally endorsing difficulty with money management and task-switching. These endorsements, corroborated by the employer documentation she provided, satisfy the functional-impairment showing that DSM-5-TR Criterion D and any later accommodation request both depend on.
Childhood-onset evidence: Current ratings cannot establish onset, so Criterion B rests on separate evidence: grade 3 through 6 report cards contain repeated teacher comments about incomplete work and inattention, and a structured collateral interview with A.R.'s mother described the same pattern before age 12, managed at the time with heavy parental scaffolding. That history, not the present CAARS-2 elevations, carries the onset requirement.
Interpretive summary and recommendations linkage: Cross-informant CAARS-2 evidence, the diagnostic interview, school records, and collateral history converge on a presentation consistent with DSM-5-TR attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive presentation, with the diagnosis resting on the full evaluation rather than on any score. The inattentive and executive findings support the medication consultation and the workplace-strategy recommendations in the plan; the emotional dysregulation findings support the skills-focused psychotherapy referral. Re-rating with the same CAARS-2 forms, raters, edition, and norm reference in six months is recommended to measure treatment response on comparable scores.
This sample is fictional and for educational purposes. It does not describe a real client or record, and the scores are invented for illustration and correspond to no real person or record.
Writing these after every session? BastionGPT drafts complete notes from bullets, dictation, or a transcript.
Generate a note from bulletsWrite the CAARS-2 section knowing which decision it will feed, because the surrounding rules differ by lane. On the payer side, US coverage for adult ADHD testing is narrower than most referral sources expect: Aetna's clinical policy CPB 0158 states that neuropsychological or psychological testing is "rarely considered medically necessary for uncomplicated cases" of ADHD, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts policy 151 is blunter: "Neuropsychological testing for the routine diagnosis of ADHD is NOT MEDICALLY NECESSARY." Testing and rating-scale work is billed inside the psychological testing code families by bare code number (96130, 96131, 96136 through 96139 for testing services; 96127 for brief emotional or behavioral instruments), which is coding convention and payer policy, not law, and Medicare's billing articles A57481 and A57780 frame which services those codes describe, so verify coverage before promising a reimbursed battery. On the accommodations side, the expectations are about reasoning, not score dumps: ETS's documentation guidelines for ADHD (2026 edition) ask for a specific current DSM or ICD diagnosis with supporting data, rule-outs for alternative explanations, functional limitations across life contexts, and requested accommodations explicitly linked to those limitations, under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 framework, and they restate the definitional point that ADHD "is exhibited in childhood or early adolescence", which is why the onset paragraph in your report matters to a testing agency. And on the prescribing side, the report often supports stimulant treatment, where the LAW currently carries an expiry date: the DEA and HHS Fourth Temporary Extension (Federal Register, December 31, 2025) allows telemedicine prescribing of controlled medications without a prior in-person exam through December 31, 2026, with no permanent rule finalized as of July 2026, so an evaluation written this year may be the document a prescriber relies on when those rules change.
Edition currency is the second live question. MHS retired the original CAARS, ending online product sales on October 31, 2024, and after May 31, 2025 the original can no longer be administered or scored on the publisher's platform, so a defensible report names the CAARS-2, its form length, and the norm reference used (General Population or ADHD Reference; combined-gender or gender-specific), and treats any comparison against pre-2023 CAARS scores as a stated limitation rather than a trend line, because the content scales were restructured, the norms are new, and the DSM scales moved to DSM-5-TR. The qualification boundary is the publisher's: the CAARS-2 is qualification level B, purchase eligibility does not equal interpretive competence, and interpretation and write-up remain professional acts governed by licensing boards and scope of practice. Guideline context spans jurisdictions as of July 2026: the United States has no published adult ADHD practice guideline, with APSARD's first US guideline still forthcoming (publication has been expected as an open-access document during 2026), so US practice borrows structure from NICE guideline NG87 in the UK, whose recommendation 1.3.2 states a diagnosis should "not be made solely on the basis of rating scale or observational data". In Canada, CADDRA's Canadian ADHD Practice Guidelines (4.1 edition, 2020) frame diagnosis as clinical assessment, and psychological testing for adult ADHD is commonly arranged privately or through extended health benefits, with provincial coverage varying, a market reality rather than a rule. In Australia, the AADPA guideline (2022) recommends that a diagnosis "should not be made solely based on rating scales or observational data", and its adult rating-scale list names the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales as published before the CAARS-2 shipped; adult assessment typically routes through psychiatrist attendance items such as MBS item 291 or GP mental health treatment plans, while the complex-neurodevelopmental assessment items (135, 137, 139, 289) are once-per-lifetime items for patients under 25, with MBS guidance stating items 135 and 289 are "not intended for standalone diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder", so CAARS-2 administration time for most Australian adults is not separately rebated; PAA distributes the instrument in Australia at the same qualification level.
CAARS and CAARS 2 are trademarks of Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS). BastionGPT is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the publisher. This page reproduces no test items, stimuli, norms, or scoring materials.
There is no payer audit series for rating-scale write-ups; the accountability record here is psychometric, unusually recent, and thin by design, because independent CAARS-2 research barely exists yet. As of July 2026 the standout independent peer-reviewed study is a caution, not a confirmation: in a simulation study of 222 adults whose feigning participants were coached, warned to avoid detection, and incentivized, the new Negative Impression Index showed "high specificity (92%) to honest examinees with ADHD, but low sensitivity to simulators (8%)", and most simulators stayed credible while still earning high ADHD Index scores (81 percent) and endorsing significant functional impairment (90 percent) (Weis and Sund, Journal of Attention Disorders, 2026). The one published CAARS-2 structural replication comes from the instrument's own author group with disclosed publisher royalties and employment, and the payers quoted above already treat testing for uncomplicated ADHD as rarely necessary. Those facts predict the failures below. The BastionGPT Clinical Advisory Board sees the same errors most often in CAARS-2 write-up reviews:
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Every CAARS-2 scale reports a T score, a standard score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10, referenced to the norm group you selected: the General Population sample or the ADHD Reference sample, with combined-gender or gender-specific options, across seven adult age bands. Higher scores mean the rater reports more ADHD-consistent difficulty than the comparison group. The manual characterizes elevations with qualitative descriptors, and the defensible write-up states those descriptors in words, names the norm reference, and treats no score as a diagnostic threshold: a T score quantifies reported symptoms, and the diagnosis belongs to the whole evaluation.
The 2023 revision restructured the instrument: full-length forms grew from 66 to 97 items, the old Impulsivity/Emotional Lability scale was split into separate Impulsivity and Emotional Dysregulation scales, Inattention/Memory Problems became Inattention/Executive Dysfunction, DSM scales moved to DSM-5-TR, the ADHD Index was rebuilt with improved sensitivity and specificity, and a Response Style Analysis (Negative Impression Index, Inconsistency Index, Omitted Items, Pace), Critical and Screening Items, and item-level impairment ratings were added, all on new US-and-Canada norms reaching age 70 and older. MHS retired the original: online sales ended October 31, 2024, and platform scoring ended after May 31, 2025. Treat the two as different instruments; a pre-2023 CAARS baseline belongs in the text as history, with any comparison framed as a stated limitation, not a trend line.
No. No US, Canadian, or Australian authority requires the CAARS-2, any rating scale, an observer form, a continuous performance test, or any T-score cutoff for an adult ADHD diagnosis, and the guidelines that exist point the other way: NICE guideline NG87 (recommendation 1.3.2) states a diagnosis should "not be made solely on the basis of rating scale or observational data", and Australia's AADPA guideline (2022) says the same. The United States has no published adult guideline as of July 2026; APSARD's first US adult ADHD guideline remains forthcoming. The DSM-5-TR diagnosis is clinical: criteria mapping, onset before age 12, cross-setting impairment, and differential rule-outs. The CAARS-2 earns its place as corroborating, norm-referenced evidence inside that evaluation, which is exactly how the write-up should frame it.
No rule mandates an observer, and a missing Observer form does not invalidate an evaluation. It is still worth pursuing: self and observer ratings agree only moderately (the publisher reports inter-rater r = .44 to .54), which means each perspective adds information, and longitudinal cohorts show adults with childhood ADHD under-report relative to informants, with "Persistence rates were higher when using parent rather than self-reports" the MTA follow-up's finding (Sibley and colleagues, 2017). At the same time, adult self-report is not inherently untrustworthy: clinic-referred adults showed moderate to high self-other agreement on current functioning (Barkley, Knouse, and Murphy, 2011). Any adult who knows the person well can serve: partner, parent, sibling, close friend, sometimes a coworker. When none exists, the defensible write-up documents the absence, explains it, and leans on history, records, and interview instead.
Only weakly, and the write-up should say so by design rather than by accident. The CAARS-2 added a Negative Impression Index precisely because the original CAARS had no over-reporting index, but the first independent test was sobering: in a 2026 simulation study of 222 adults, the index showed "high specificity (92%) to honest examinees with ADHD, but low sensitivity to simulators (8%)", and most coached simulators stayed credible while producing high ADHD Index scores and endorsing significant impairment (Weis and Sund, Journal of Attention Disorders, 2026). The authors' advice matches best practice: "continue to corroborate elevated CAARS-2 symptom scores with objective evidence of real-world functional limitations". So write validity indicators factually and non-accusatorily, treat a clean index as supportive rather than probative, pair rating scales with performance and symptom validity testing where stakes warrant it, and never let a single index carry a feigning conclusion.
By age, depth, and job. The Conners 4 covers ages 6 to 18 and hands off to the CAARS-2 at 18; the publisher built the two to be aligned for lifespan continuity, which makes the pair the natural choice when a childhood Conners history exists. The ASRS is a free WHO screener: strong for flagging who needs evaluation, no validity scales, no diagnostic weight. The BAARS-IV is an inexpensive normed alternative whose retrospective childhood forms help document onset. The DIVA-5 is a structured diagnostic interview that maps DSM criteria conversationally rather than producing norm-referenced severity scores. And when the referral question is executive function in daily life rather than ADHD symptom severity, an executive function rating such as the BRIEF-2 family covers that lane. A defensible adult battery typically pairs a clinical interview and criterion mapping with one normed rating scale like the CAARS-2, collateral input, impairment documentation, and validity checks, with cognitive testing reserved for differential questions.
Not on this page, and not legitimately on any public page. The 97 items, scoring algorithms, and norm tables are protected test materials at MHS qualification level B, scoring exists only on the publisher's platform for this edition, and psychologists carry an ethical duty to maintain test security under APA Ethics Standard 9.11. Sites offering CAARS-2 item text or self-scoring undermine the controls that make the norms meaningful, and coaching research shows why that matters: simulators who know what scales look for evade detection easily. What a report can include: T scores, qualitative descriptors in words, and your own prose describing what the scales measure. What it cannot: item text, scoring rules, or reproduced norm tables.
Verify before promising, because the default answer is narrower than referral sources expect. Major US commercial policies treat testing for uncomplicated ADHD as rarely or not medically necessary: Aetna CPB 0158 says "rarely considered medically necessary for uncomplicated cases", and BCBS of Massachusetts policy 151 states testing for routine ADHD diagnosis is not medically necessary; testing services bill under the 96130 through 96139 family and brief instruments under 96127, with Medicare's articles A57481 and A57780 framing those services. Coverage improves when complexity is documented: treatment that has not worked, neurological questions, or genuine differential complexity. In Canada, adult ADHD testing is commonly private-pay or covered through extended health benefits, varying by province. In Australia, assessment usually routes through psychiatrist attendance items such as item 291 or GP mental health treatment plans, and the under-25 complex-neurodevelopmental items are not intended for standalone ADHD diagnosis, so the rating scale itself is typically absorbed into consultation time rather than separately rebated.
Yes. BastionGPT is trained and clinically tested on psychological and neuropsychological evaluation reports, the parent documents CAARS-2 sections live inside. Paste a score summary (forms, raters, T scores, response-style notes) and it drafts the results-section narrative with the cross-informant integration, factual validity language, and onset-evidence separation in place for your review; it can also check a finished section for score-descriptor mismatches, 1999-edition scale names, an ADHD Index written as a diagnosis, or a missing impairment linkage, and produce a plain-language summary for the client or their prescriber. BastionGPT is HIPAA-compliant with a signed BAA on every plan, your data is never used to train models, and drafting from scores you paste means no protocol or item content ever needs to leave your records.
The instrument facts and compliance claims on this page trace to these sources, last verified July 2026:
Educational content, not legal or billing advice. Sample notes are fictional. Follow your organization's policies and your board, payer, and jurisdiction requirements.