Computer-assisted comprehensive geriatric assessment in a family physician's office

Family physicians and other medical care providers are beginning to realize the importance of a comprehensive assessment examination for elderly patients. The components of such an examination are well documented, and include not only the standard history and physical examination, but also evaluation of mental health, functional status, and socioeconomic status of the person. A major impediment to a family physician doing such an extensive evaluation is that most offices lack the team approach commonly used in tertiary care medical facilities. In this paper I report the implementation of a computer-assisted program that was developed for use in a private physician's office. The first 22 patients examined using this protocol are discussed. A new diagnosis was uncovered in all but three of the subjects. This finding suggests that performing comprehensive geriatric assessments in a family practice setting might create an immediate benefit in terms of patient management.