Promoting proactive approaches to preventive health can make a difference. Despite being demonstrated to improve health quality outcomes and reduce health care costs, the percentage of Medicare beneficiaries having an Annual Wellness Visit remains low at around 20-25% of eligible people. Moran et al show little change in the percentage from 2014 to 2018. Dr. AE Cuenca and co-author, Susan Kapsner cite several explanations for the low rate. Providers report a lack of knowledge about AWV components for completion and adequate documentation. Some feel insufficient staffing limits the ability to offer these visits. Socio-economic issues around pressing chronic health conditions that make it difficult for patients to prioritize preventive services play a role. Lind et al (2019) and Ganguli et al (2018) report continued health disparities with even lower percentages of eligible patients in minority populations receiving Medicare AWVs. This module aims to educate providers and clinical staff regarding the components, documentation, and benefits in providing Medicare Annual Wellness Visits to all eligible patients.
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
Differentiate between the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit and the concept of an “annual physical”.
List benefits to the patient for participation in the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit and how to manage patient expectations for the visit.
List benefits to your clinical practice for maintaining a high participation percentage within the Medicare beneficiary population.
Identify common documentation errors that can result in payment denials from Medicare.
- Provider:University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
- Activity Link: https://ce.unthsc.edu/node/693
- Start Date: 2023-05-05 05:00:00
- End Date: 2023-05-05 05:00:00
- Credit Details: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™️: 1.0 hours
Nursing: 1.0 hours
Pharmacy: 1.0 hours
Social Work: 1.0 hours - Commercial Support: No
- Activity Type: Enduring Material
- CME Finder Type: Online Learning
- Fee to Participate: No, it's free
- Measured Outcome: Learner Knowledge, Learner/Team Competence, Learner/Team Performance
- Provider Ship: Directly Provided
- Registration: Open to all