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April 30 - Experts at AGS' Annual Scientific Meeting Determine "Virtual" Interdisciplinary Healthcare Teams Improve Care for Chronic Patients

Chronically ill adults cared for by "virtual" interdisciplinary healthcare teams--teams including physicians, pharmacists, social workers, and other professionals linked via phone, fax, and e-mail--made fewer visits to emergency departments (EDs) than patients who didn't get this kind of coordinated team care, according toa study to be presented at the American Geriatrics Society's annual scientific meeting.

Experts in treating elders consider such coordinated, interdisciplinary team healthcare optimal for older adults, who tend to have multiple chronic health problems. Coordinated team care is a key element of the "medical home" patient-centered approach to care. While older adults with multiple chronic illnesses can benefit from coordinated care provided by physicians, as well as nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers, 60% of primary care physician practices in the United States are small and unlikely to have the resources to create and maintain interdisciplinary care teams.

To see whether virtual interdisciplinary teams might improve care for patients with chronic illnesses, researchers at Rush University Medical Center designed a pilot project, Virtual Integrated Practice (VIP). The project linked physician practices to teams of pharmacists, social workers, and dieticians via phone, fax, and e-mail so they could coordinate care for patients with diabetes. Over the course of two years, higher risk diabetic patients getting VIP care made fewer trips to the ED than similar patients who didn't get virtual team care, the researchers found. Patients getting VIP care also reported better understanding how to use their medications than those getting standard care. In addition, physicians who were part of virtual teams reported being better informed of how their patients were doing between visits, the researchers found.

"The VIP study showed the feasibility of interdisciplinary teams as a practical solution to many of the challenges seen in primary care geriatric practices," says principal investigator Steven K. Rothschild, MD, an associate professor in the departments of family medicine and preventive medicine at Rush. "For the most physically frail patients, the intervention meant fewer trips to the emergency department. The VIP model provides a replicable roadmap for implementing the medical home concept in solo and small group practices that care for frail elders."

Source: American Geriatric Society

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