With Americans living longer and a large proportion of our population reaching ages 65 and beyond, there is a risk of people experiencing impaired cognition that impact their health care and independence. This has led to the suggestion that optimal care should include systematic screening for cognitive impairment in order to enable early detection of dementia, initiate interventions that may delay of progression of cognitive decline, and opportunities for patients and families to make decisions regarding care. 

To address this growing the need to identify cognitive disorders among geriatric patients, NAN convened a Summit on Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients on December 7th - 8th, 2017. Below are links to several of the presentations that occurred at the Summit and helped inform the proceedings:

• William Perry, PhD, Executive Director, National Academy of Neuropsychology
  Welcome & Opening Remarks

• Nina Silverberg, PhD, National Institute on Aging, NIH
  Opportunities for Improving Cognitive Assessment in Older Adults

• Shari M. Ling, MD, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  Opportunities and Challenges of Assessing Cognition Amidst Evolving System

• Nirav Vakharia, MD, Cleveland Clinic 
  Predicting the Future with Clinical & Financial Data: Some Lessons Learned

• Don Melady, MSc(Ed), MD, CCFP(EM), Mount Sinai Hospital/Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute/University of Toronto
  Assessing Cognitive Impairment in the Emergency Department: Lessons from the Geriatric ED Collaborative

• Deborah Adler, Optum of UnitedHealth Group
  Managed Care Trends Impacting Neuropsychologists

• Christopher J. Alban, MD, MBA, Epic Systems
  Using the Comprehensive Health Record in Assessment of Geriatric Patient Populations

• Grant Iverson, PhD, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital
  Psychometric Challenges Associated with Assessing Cognition in Older Adults
  

Leaders from the following organizations and associations participated: 

• Alzheimer's Association - Laura Thornhill, JD & Morgan Daven 
• AMA/CPT Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee - Neil Pliskin, PhD
• American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN) - Michelle Braun, PhD
• American Academy of Neurology - Norman Foster, MD & Jean Tsai, MD, PhD
• American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) - Melinda Lantz, MD
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) - Lori Martin-Plank, PhD, MSN, MSPH, RN
• American Board of Professional Neuropsychology (ABN) - Randi Most, PhD
• American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) - Ula Hwang, MD
• American College of Physicians (ACP) - Ana Maria Lopez, MD
• American Geriatrics Society - Michael Malone, MD
• American Psychological Association (APA) - Margaret Norris, PhD
• Beacon Health Options - Martin Waters, MSW
• Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA) - Laurie Ivey, PsyD
• Department of Veterans Affairs - Colin M. Thomas, MD, MPH
• The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) - Katie Maslow, MSW
• Hispanic Neuropsychological Society (HNS) - Xavier Cagigas, PhD
• IBM Watson Health - Lisa Latts, MD, MSPH, MBA, FACP
• International Neuropsychological Society (INS) - Joel Kramer, PsyD
• Pearson - Lisa Drozdick, PhD & David Shafer, MBA
• Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. (PAR) - Melissa Messer
• Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (SCN) - Mark Bondi, PhD

National Academy of Neuropsychology Representatives:

• Robert Denney, PsyD, Laura Lacritz, PhD, John Meyers, PsyD, Tresa Roebuck Spencer, PhD

The Summit resulted in a collaborative effort to create a written guide that can further inform best practices in regards to screening large geriatric populations. It is anticipated that the proceedings from the Summit will be released in the Spring.