AHRQ Releases Health Assessments Guide for Primary Care Settings

An evidence-based guide designed to help primary care physicians, nurses and other staff select and implement health assessments has been released by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The guide, “Health Assessments in Primary Care: A How-To Guide for Clinicians and Staff,” includes tools to help clinicians decide which health assessments to use, how to integrate them into their daily workflow, and how to maintain the process. It is designed for practices that use electronic health records as well as paper charts.

It gives clinicians sample health assessment questions for seniors, adults, adolescents and children. It also provides a “crosswalk” of health assessments related to incentive and quality programs. Sample health assessment information for patients and a patient feedback survey are included.