Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT

AGS Viewpoint

Managing Older Patients With Multiple Chronic Conditions? There’s an App for That—Thanks to the AGS

May 2015

More than half of all adults 65 years old and older have three or more chronic health issues. Managing these conditions independently can be a challenge in its own right—but managing them together is both important and particularly complex. Now, expert assistance is just an iPad, iPhone, or Android touch away. Multiple Chronic Conditions: Geriatrics Evaluation and Management Strategies (MCC GEMs) Mobile Application—a new, free app developed by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) with support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)—has brought hard-copy clinical guidance on effectively managing multimorbidity into the digital domain, giving long-term care specialists another platform for accessing geriatrics expertise.

“Individuals living with diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and any number of chronic conditions face unique challenges that can impact their care when these conditions present concurrently,” said Matthew K. McNabney, MD, who helped lead the AGS advisory panel that developed the app. “Multimorbidity itself can lead to increased risks for disability, hospitalization, and deteriorating quality of life. Tools like this new app can arm clinicians with the resources they need to strike an appropriate balance between clinical guidance, healthcare needs, and patient preferences.”

Available for Android and Apple smartphones and tablets, the AGS app is an interactive rendering of AGS Guiding Principles for the Care of Older Adults with Multimorbidity: An Approach for Clinicians. This clinical guide, first devised by an AGS expert panel in 2011, helps healthcare professionals effectively coordinate care for older adults managing multiple health problems with its roadmap for resolving conflicting guidance on individual diseases or conditions. It also empowers healthcare
professionals to understand, respect, and respond to patient needs and expectations within the context of care management for multiple chronic conditions.

By responding to four simple questions, app users are invited to explore an expert-guided clinical framework that walks through principles and priorities for optimizing care by:
•    Identifying and incorporating patient preferences into medical decision-making processes;
•    Ascertaining when, how, and in what ways existing clinical guidance for specific diseases and conditions should be used;
•    Framing care decisions based not only on these existing guidelines but also on a patient-sensitive approach to the risks, burdens, benefits, and prognoses that come with prioritizing health outcomes in a long-term care context;
•    Accounting for the complexity of treatment options and the feasibility of specific treatment choices, plans, and programs; and
•    Utilizing an array of strategies and the AGS clinical framework itself to choose treatment options that optimize benefits, minimize harm, and enhance overall quality of life and well-being.

To support these conversations and strategies, the app also encompasses access to a wealth of additional resources, including a searchable archive from the AHRQ National Guideline Clearinghouse and direct links to other assessment tools. It will accompany a comprehensive “multimorbidity toolkit” developed by the AGS and launched concurrently with the app to give medical and surgical specialists even more exposure to principles of excellence when working with older patients.

“The AGS multimorbidity app affords us real-time access to tips, guidance, and insights for customizing care with patients who are people and not the sum total of individual conditions or health concerns,” said Cynthia M. Boyd, MD, MPH, who also co-chaired the AGS workgroup responsible for the app. “As part of a larger educational toolkit that encompasses guidelines, reference materials, teaching slides, case studies, and much more, this app adds to a suite of resources that will make geriatrics expertise and long-term care considerations a more integral part of health education.”

The MCC GEMs Mobile Application is available as a free download from iTunes and Android app stores. The corresponding educational toolkit can be found on GeriatricsCareOnline.org, the online portal for AGS clinical guidance and publications.

Advertisement

Advertisement