Developing a nurse-led Medicare annual wellness visit program for the outpatient setting

Abstract

Chronic disease causes preventable deaths each year. The financial cost of preventable diseases continues to grow. Many evidenced-based screenings and recommendations provide ways to stop or decrease the effects of chronic diseases. The number of preventive care screenings individuals received increases when a wellness visit is provided. Yet, less than a quarter of eligible Medicare beneficiaries receive their free annual wellness visit. Low participation rates in the annual wellness visit leads to missed preventive services, increased chronic disease, and increased cost. Medical providers continue to have mixed opinions regarding the importance of the visit, leading to decreased buy-in and patient education about the visit. A nurse-led annual wellness visit program, created in an outpatient primary care setting, aims to increase awareness about the visit and increase the number of patients receiving preventive care. A multi-professional committee formed to implement and continue the program. One registered nurse was trained and piloted the program by seeing patients one day per week for their annual wellness visit and recruiting patients for the visit on another half-day. The number of people receiving the annual wellness visit will be tracked to analyze the impact of nurses recruiting and conducting the visit at an outpatient clinic. Previous programs have shown an increase in participation in the annual wellness visit and an increase in preventive services being performed.