Taking the Next Step: Increasing Gait Speed Assessment in Primary Care

Sep 28, 2026

Gait speed serves as a simple, robust predictor of outcomes in older adults, yet it is not routinely assessed during office visits. The study implemented RFID-based gait speed assessment into Medicare Annual Wellness Visit workflows across four clinical practices in two healthcare systems. Feasibility and fidelity were evaluated with mixed methods using the CFIR 2.0 framework, including clinician champions, Epic build-out, assistant training, and monitoring intended functioning. Early findings showed improved assessment success after retraining and programming adjustments.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Study Design and Intervention

Implementation Strategies

Feasibility and Fidelity Results

36 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 widespread acceptance as an important clinical indicator, it isnot routinely assessed during office visits. We sought to implement gait speed assessment into Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) workflow at four clinical practices across two healthcare systems. Gait speed was assessed using a previously-validated, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology-based system. Patients complete a 4-meter walk while wearing an armband containing an RFID tag. Wall-mounted antennae identify the tag and a computer program calculates gait speed (meters per second). We assessed implementation feasibility and fidelity using a mixed methods approach informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research 2.0. Implementation strategies included: identifying clinical champions; developing agait speed field in Epic, the electronic medical record system; training medical assistants to conduct gait speed assessments before “rooming” patients; and assessing the proportion of AWVs where the system worked as intended. Preliminary results are available from the first clinic. Over the first 6 weeks of the 12-week implementation period, we observed 35 AWVs. In the 3-week first phase, medical assistants successfully assessed gait speed and recorded results into Epic during 16/23 (70%) of AWVs. After medical assistant re-training and re-programming range adjustment to optimize tag detection, gait speed was successfully assessed in 100% of the 12 visits observed in the 3-week second phase. Our findings provide encouraging evidence indicating that gait speed assessment using RFID technology can be implemented into AWV workflow. Abstract citation ID: igaf122.119 TAKING THE NEXT STEP: INCREASING GAIT SPEED ASSESSMENT IN PRIMARY CARE Lisa Barry1, Kathryn Callahan2, Mariana Wingood2, Richard Fortinsky1, Karina Berg3, Natong Lin1, Song Han1, and Nicholas Pajewski2, 1. University of Connecticut, Farmington, Connecticut, United States, 2. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 3. UConn Health, Farmington, Connecticut, United States Gait speed is a simple and robust predictor of outcomes in older persons including disability and falls. Yet, despite

FAQs

Why is gait speed assessment important in primary care?

Gait speed is a simple, robust predictor of outcomes in older adults, including disability and falls.

How was gait speed assessed in the workflow?

Patients completed a 4-meter walk while wearing an RFID-tagged armband, with wall-mounted antennae and software calculating gait speed.

What implementation strategies were used to integrate the assessment into AWVs?

Strategies included identifying clinical champions, developing an Epic field for gait speed, training medical assistants to assess before rooming, and tracking the proportion of AWVs where the system worked as intended.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Lucas Martin