Documented follow‐up to memory concerns reported at the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit

INTRODUCTION: The Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) may improve timely detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), yet little is known about the frequency of follow-up on patient-reported memory concerns during the AWV. METHODS: We use electronic medical record (EMR) data from an academic health system to examine EMR-documented follow-up actions for patients with newly reported memory concerns on the AWV health risk assessment, including formal cognitive assessment or specialist referrals. RESULTS: The 1411 patients with newly reported memory concerns were predominantly white (70%) and female (63%), with an average age of 78 (SD 7.5). At the AWV, few patients received a cognitive assessment (5.4%; n = 76), specialist referral (2.1%; n = 30), or both (0.4%; n = 6). In adjusted analyses, we did not observe statistically significant differences by sociodemographic characteristics. DISCUSSION: This EMR-based study highlights an opportunity to better leverage the AWV to improve ADRD detection and care.