STEADI Fall Screen for Wellness Document

The Wellness Template in Evident CPSI that is used for Medicare Annual Wellness Visits has two fall screens in the ‘Screenings’ section; Morse Fall Screen (MFS) and STEADI from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CMS does not have a preferred screening tool; however, Signify Health/CVS Accountable Care – the Artesia General Hospital Accountable Care Organization (ACO) recommends the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test – again from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The STEADI fall screen and TUG Test is more relevant and appropriate to the ambulatory clinic setting than the MFS and patient education materials that support fall prevention are provided to Wellness Visit participants. Although the Morse Fall Screen is used widely in acute care settings, both in the hospital and long-term care inpatient settings and is currently the ONLY fall screen that will map for eCQM in Evident CPSI, it is not efficient to have clinicians perform two fall screenings in the ambulatory clinic setting during time sensitive appointments. My Dream Factory idea is to codify the STEADI fall screen as well, so that quality measures can be captured during ambulatory patient visits and appropriate standing orders for referral to balance training, physical therapy, or further assessment can be developed and utilized if a patient has experienced a fall with injury, multiple falls in the past year, or fails the TUG Test as the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit is designed to address falls, risk for falls, and fall-related injuries in the patient’s personalized prevention plan.