What matters most: an age-friendly approach to pathology and laboratory medicine
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Melody Boudreaux Nelson
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Candice Coffey
Abstract
Under the Age-Friendly Health System initiative, “What Matters” is defined as knowing the older adult’s specific health outcome goals and care preferences. This involves multiple settings of care (e.g., hospital, skilled nursing facility, outpatient visits) and can include end-of-life care. However, the establishment of testing frequency criterion and the development of wide-scale diagnostic algorithms are often left undefined in older adults with poor prognosis and/or shortened life expectancy. Thus, multidisciplinary development of Geriatric 5M-informed optimization plans at the institution level and quality improvement strategies within the laboratory community may further the successful implementation of age-friendly efforts. While patients, end-users, and systems can attribute to implementation barriers, the development of an evidence-base wherein laboratory expertise is directly associated with patient outcomes is vital. Thus, a concentrated, cooperative age-friendly approach centered on What Matters may present a sustainable strategy for early transformation. Future research centered on piloted interventions on the laboratory’s role in older adult care and end of life diagnostic management is needed.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Michelle Lamendola-Essel and Stephanie Whitehead for their critical review of this manuscript.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. Conceptualization: MBN, CC Literature Review: MBN, CC Project Administration: MBN, CC Visualization: MBN Writing – original draft: MBN, CC Writing – significant review & edit: MBN, CC.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: MBN is an unpaid member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Committee has received consulting fees from Navidx, honoraria from the ASCP and Lab Manager Online, and travel support from the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (ASCLS). MBN is a current unpaid member of the ASCP Council of Laboratory Professionals. MBN has received travel support from the ASCP. CC has no conflicts of interest to declare.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Data availability: Not applicable.
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