Behavioral Economics Applications to Geriatrics Leveraging EHRs

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Prostate Specific Antigen, Asymptomatic Bacteriuria, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

In brief

The risks and benefits of many diagnostic approaches and treatments differ for older adults compared to middle aged adults. When diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are misapplied to older adults this can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Well established examples where clinicians do not often follow best practices in the care of older adults include those identified by the American Geriatrics Society for the Choosing Wisely initiative: 1) testing and treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria, 2) prostate specific antigen testing in older men without prostate cancer, and 3) overuse of insulin or oral hypoglycemics for type 2 diabetes. Clinical decision support nudges, informed by social psychology and delivered via electronic health records (EHRs), are promising strategies to reduce the misuse of services in cases where optimal utilization may not be zero but should be well below current practice. These interventions seek to influence conscious and unconscious drivers of clinical decision making, are low cost to implement and disseminate, and can be incorporated into existing delivery systems. In the R21 phase of this Behavioral Economics Applications to Geriatrics Leveraging EHRs (BEAGLE) study, we will: select EHR delivered nudges to address 3 topics of potential misuse in older adults based on the main psychological drivers of overuse identified in interviews with high-using clinicians; develop and pilot test decision support tools within a health systems' EHR to understand technical feasibility, work flow fit, preliminary impact on clinical outcomes, and clinician acceptability; and develop and validate electronic clinical quality measures of potential overuse/misuse related to the care of older adults.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT03704389
Run by
Northwestern University
People needed
664
Starts
2019-01-17
Expected to finish
2019-08-18
Last updated by the study team
2025-10-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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