Press Releases

ABIM Introduces Tool for Internists to Review Vulnerable Elderly Care

Philadelphia, PA, July 20, 2005 – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) released a Care of the Vulnerable Elderly Practice Improvement Module, the sixth in a series of innovative self-evaluation tools. Certified internists who complete the module will earn credit toward renewing their certificate. This module will be particularly relevant for general internists, geriatricians and others who manage elderly patients.

"The care of older patients with multiple diseases and health care conditions can be difficult and challenging," said Dr. Mary Tinetti, Gladys Phillips Crofoot Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health at Yale University. "Fortunately, the evidence supporting effective management of common geriatric health conditions such as falls, urinary incontinence, and polypharmacy has grown over the past decade. The new ABIM Practice Improvement Module for Vulnerable Elderly Patients translates this knowledge and evidence into feasible clinical practice strategies that will improve the quality of care we provide to vulnerable elderly patients."

Practice Improvement Modules (PIMs) are computer-based tools that enable physicians to conduct a confidential self-evaluation of the medical care that they provide. Each module offers an opportunity for physicians to review current clinical practice guidelines and their own practice. This new module includes web links to information about common health problems in the elderly, toolkits developed by the American Geriatrics Society, and resources on ways to improve care through changes in practice routines. The quality measures used for this module are based on the RAND Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders (ACOVE) Project.

As the population ages, providing care to address health problems common in the elderly becomes even more important. For example, 30-40% of the community-dwelling elderly fall each year. Around 10-15% of falls result in a fracture which in turn may lead to significant functional decline. According to Dr. David Reuben, Archstone Foundation Chair and Professor of Medicine at UCLA and chair of the module development committee, "Many of the physical factors and environmental conditions that increase the risk of falling can be modified, and physicians can incorporate simple practice routines to address these."

Data collected and analyzed through these modules contain no personal identifiers and the entire process is fully compliant with HIPAA regulations. In addition to credit towards ABIM's Maintenance of Certification program, physicians who complete a module will earn 20 Category One Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits.

ABIM's first PIM, released in March 2003, focused on preventive cardiology. PIMs are also available for diabetes, general preventive services, asthma, and hypertension. ABIM is currently developing a module that focuses on improving the care of patients hospitalized with any of three conditions: acute myocardial infarction, community-acquired pneumonia, or congestive heart failure and modules that assess care typically delivered by subspecialists, including Hepatitis C, HIV and colonoscopy and the management of patients requiring mechanical ventilation.

For additional information regarding ABIM's Practice Improvement Modules, see Improve your Practice With PIMS.

About ABIM
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that grants board certification—a well accepted marker of physician quality—to internists and subspecialists. Certification is a rigorous, comprehensive program for evaluating physician knowledge, skills and attitudes to assure both patients and payers that a physician has achieved competence for practice in a given field. Individual physician certification results may be found at www.abim.org.