Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Health Serv.
Sec. Patient Safety
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2024.1474195
This article is part of the Research Topic The Future of Patient and Family Engagement in Quality and Patient Safety View all 8 articles

Engaging Older Adults in Diagnostic Safety: Implementing a Modified "Be the Expert on You" Note Sheet to Improve Diagnostic Communication in a Primary Care Setting

Provisionally accepted
Alberta Tran Alberta Tran 1*Leah Blackall Leah Blackall 1Mary A. Hill Mary A. Hill 2William Gallagher William Gallagher 3
  • 1 MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI), Hyattsville, United States
  • 2 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 3 School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Adults over the age of 65 are at a higher risk for diagnostic errors due to a myriad of reasons. In primary care settings, a large contributor of diagnostic errors are breakdowns in information gathering and synthesis throughout the patient-provider encounter. Diagnostic communication interventions, such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's "Be the Expert on You" note sheet, may require adaptations to address older adults' unique needs.Methods: We recruited and partnered with older adult patients (n=6) in focus group sessions to understand their perspectives on diagnostic communication and the existing AHRQ note sheet. A two-page communication and clinic workflow tool was developed and implemented over a 6-month period using three Plan-Do-Check-Act cycles. Physicians, nurses, staff, and patients were surveyed.Results: Most older adult patients (n=31) found the tailored diagnostic communication note sheet to be easy-to-use, helpful for provider communication, and would recommend its use to other patients. Physicians and staff members were satisfied with the note sheet and described few challenges in using it in practice.Discussion: Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence around diagnostic safety interventions and patient engagement by demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of actively involving older adult patients in quality initiatives.

    Keywords: diagnostic safety, diagnostic communication, patient engagement, Older adult, Primary Care

    Received: 01 Aug 2024; Accepted: 20 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tran, Blackall, Hill and Gallagher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alberta Tran, MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI), Hyattsville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.