During the most recent web-based seminar of The American Journal of Managed Care’s ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, experts discussed a digital test that can help primary care physicians assess patients’ cognitive abilities and detect impairment sooner.
During the most recent web-based seminar of The American Journal of Managed Care’s ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, experts discussed a digital test that can help primary care physicians assess patients’ cognitive abilities and detect impairment sooner.
The Coalition will be gathering for a live meeting October 20 to 21 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit the Coalition meeting page.
Harry Jacob, MD, the chief executive medical officer of Primary PartnerCare, and Edward Ginns, MD, PhD, medical director of neurology at Quest Diagnostics, presented the findings of a study on the use of a new cognitive testing application. CogniSense, which was developed by Quest Diagnostics, allows the Memory Orientation Screening Test (MOST) to be administered on a tablet or other mobile device.
Jacob and Ginns began the session by explaining that early detection of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is key to improving patient outcomes and decreasing costs. However, cognitive impairment can often go unrecognized by primary care physicians, presenting diagnostic challenges. Jacob and Ginns highlighted several case studies from the pilot testing, which introduced the app to 7 physicians within the Primary PartnerCare ACO.
Physicians who used the app reported that they were able to earlier identify more patients with memory impairment while minimizing referrals to specialists. It also helped them provide objective data to concerned patients and their families. “CogniSense allowed me to advocate for my patient, and enter into a collaborative investigation and evaluation with his neurologist, maintaining continuity of care,” said one of the doctors quoted in a case study.
Patients, physicians, and office staff praised the app’s ease of use.
“The senior citizen population actually were impressed that we were using iPads in the office,” Jacob said in response to an audience question about potential difficulties with the technology. He added that patients and staff said they experienced more trouble with the old paper forms.
The app, which immediately sends the patient’s answers to Quest for analysis, is part of a growing number of health information technology innovations being used in the healthcare industry. Results from CogniSense can be stored in Quest’s electronic health record system, allowing clinicians to track and monitor patients’ cognitive function over time.
Jacob and Ginns explained that digital tools like CogniSense can help accountable care organizations lower spending by keeping patients in more cost-effective pathways and reducing repetitive or wrong testing.
“Moving diagnosis and treatment into the primary care arena is a less costly pathway than in the specialty arena,” said Jacob.
Ginns agreed, adding that because identifying cognitive impairment can “bring these individuals to interventions and diagnosis, it does impact positively on cost and actually, importantly, quality of life.”
Looking Back on ISPOR 2024: Hot Policy Topics, Welcome Focus on Employers, and More
May 10th 2024Kimberly Westrich, MA, chief strategy officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council, reflects on the most valuable learnings from the 2024 meeting of ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, including lively discussions of the Inflation Reduction Act and workshops on value assessment.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Penn Medicine's Dr Justin Bekelman
December 19th 2023Justin Bekelman, MD, director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation, sat with our hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, for our final episode of 2023 to discuss the importance of collaboration between academic medicine and community oncology and testing innovative cancer care delivery in these settings.
Listen
Forging a Patient-Centric Path to Revolutionize and Redefine Value-Based Care
April 30th 2024Optum Life Sciences and Takeda Pharmaceuticals are partnering on an innovative virtual care pilot program for inflammatory bowel disease meant to both continue the mission of the current value-based health care landscape and raise the bar for personalized care delivery optimization.
Read More
USPSTF Lowers Age for Biennial Mammograms to 40, Citing Early Detection Benefit
April 30th 2024The USPSTF lowered the recommended starting age for mammograms from 50 to 40 years, citing moderate benefits for early detection in this age group. Disparities persist, especially for Black women, highlighting the need for improved access to health care and social support.
Read More