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Improved Utilization of Preventive Services Among Patients Following Team-Based Annual Wellness Visits

BACKGROUND The Annual Wellness Visit was designed to enhance preventive services utilization among Medicare beneficiaries; Annual Wellness Visits are underutilized with sparse documented effectiveness. Patients of 3 community-based and 2 retirement community outpatient clinics in western North Carolina had team-based Annual Wellness Visits over a 20-month program, with the goal of improving the uptake and delivery of the Annual Wellness Visit. A clinical pharmacist saw high-complexity patients (≥5 medications) and a licensed practical nurse saw low-complexity patients. We examined the effectiveness of team-based Annual Wellness Visits on patients' use of preventive services. METHOD We conducted a retrospective chart review on a random sample of 500 patients for 12 months post-Annual Wellness Visit. Change over time in use of preventive services was assessed using McNemar's test. Adjusted relative risks of use within 6 months were calculated using generalized linear models with the Poisson loglinear function. RESULTS Overall, utilization of Annual Wellness Visit increased from 14% at baseline to 44% after the 20-month program. The percentage of patients up-to-date with all recommended services increased from 17.4% at the Annual Wellness Visit to 42% within 6 months. Age-appropriate preventive screens and vaccines demonstrated the most improvement (55.8% to 75.4% and 36% to 52.2%, respectively). Community-based patients were less likely to obtain recommended services (RR = 0.618; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.442-0.865), while patients with supplemental insurance (RR = 1.484; 95% CI, 1.023-2.153), patients seen in subsequent Annual Wellness Visits (RR = 1.405; 95% CI, 1.062-1.858), and patients who were men (RR = 1.422; 95% CI, 1.053-2.041) were more likely to obtain recommended services. LIMITATIONS Generalization is limited by the pre-/post design of one organizational model. CONCLUSION Team-based Annual Wellness Visits with a clinical pharmacist or an LPN, who were supervised by physicians, were associated with significantly improved utilization of preventive services. Use will likely continue to improve as more patients access team-based Annual Wellness Visits yearly.