Study finds intervention increases primary care screening for older adults

Washington: A team of researchers has developed a successful intervention combining education and workflow that increased primary care screenings for geriatric conditions like falls and dementia.
The study has been published in the ‘Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Journal’.
“There is a shortage of geriatrics specialists, so most of the older adults receive care from a primary care provider. That’s why it is so important to integrate geriatrics into primary care,” said lead study author Debra Litzelman, MD, MA, research scientist at Regenstrief Institute and the principal investigator and director of Indiana GETC.
“We created an intervention that improves attitudes toward older adults and leverages teamwork to integrate these important screenings into care delivery. This study demonstrates that this intervention can be successfully implemented in primary care settings,” she added.
The Indiana GETC delivered an interdisciplinary education course for primary care providers and staff including medical assistants, nurses, and social workers about older adults’ specific health concerns and screenings.
They also created an electronic health record (EHR) flow sheet with screening questions that would be automatically triggered for office visits of patients 65 years or older. Each survey was only two questions and delivered by medical assistants as the patient was being taken to the exam room. Results were then communicated to the primary care provider.