Advancing Care for Older Adults Through Health Information Technology - An Interdisciplinary Approach

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia

Symposium on using health information technology to improve care for older adults, addressing gaps in adoption, stakeholder priorities, and ethical transparency. Four interdisciplinary studies examine telehealth for expanded preventive access and earlier dementia detection through Medicare Annual Wellness Visits, disparities in secure patient-portal messaging and healthcare use, and evaluation of AI-drafted communications with clinician review requirements. Stakeholder decision-making is mapped across usability, value, and cost, with an emphasis on inclusive implementation across diverse aging populations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Symposium Overview

Technology Benefits and Ongoing Challenges

Study 1: Telehealth and Preventive Access

Medicare Annual Wellness Visits and Early Dementia Detection

Study 2: Secure Messaging and Portal Use Disparities

Equitable Digital Access and Tailored Portals

Study 3: AI for Dementia-Related Communications

Conditional Acceptance and Clinician Review

Study 4: Stakeholder Decision-Making on AI Adoption

Usability, Value, and Cost Considerations

114 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 messages. Interviews with people with dementia and caregivers revealed conditional acceptance of AI-drafted messages, contingent on clinician review and explicit disclosure of AI involvement. The fourth study delved into stakeholder decision-making regarding AI adoption in healthcare. Interviews with older adults, caregivers, clinicians, payers, and investors revealed shared key factors in decision-making (e.g., usability, value) but divergent emphasis on cost. Our discussant will explore implications for care innovation and approaches to address the barrier to technology, including strategies to ensure inclusive implementation across diverse aging populations. SESSION 1360 (SYMPOSIUM) Abstract citation ID: igaf122.377 ADVANCING CARE FOR OLDER ADULTS THROUGH HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH Chair: Zhang Zhang Co-Chair: Nancy Schoenborn Discussant: Thomas Cudjoe Technology holds transformative potential to enhance healthcare delivery for older adults by improving access, efficiency, and patient-clinician communication. However, challenges persist such as heterogeneity across population groups in technology adoption, stakeholder priorities, and ethical concerns about transparency. This symposium addressed these gaps through four interdisciplinary studies, which provide insights into telehealth, patient portals, and artificial intelligence (AI) in the care of older adults. The first study examined telehealth’s role in expanding preventive care access and promoting early detection of dementia via Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) . Telehealth adoption was associated with an increase in AWVs. The second study found that among older adults, patients who send the most secure messages via the patient portal are more likely to be white, have a higher comorbidity burden, and exhibit greater patient portal and healthcare use, which require equitable digital access and tailor patient portals to better support diverse needs. The third study adopted a mixed-methods approach to test ChatGPT’s ability to identify nonpatient authors of dementia-related portal

FAQs

What is the central aim of the symposium?

To advance care for older adults through health information technology while addressing adoption heterogeneity, stakeholder priorities, and ethical transparency concerns.

How does the first study connect telehealth to dementia-related outcomes?

It links telehealth adoption with an increase in Medicare Annual Wellness Visits, which supports expanded preventive access and earlier detection of dementia.

What conditions did clinicians require for AI-drafted messages?

Acceptance was contingent on clinician review and explicit disclosure that AI was involved in drafting the messages.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia