Family Practice Physician, UPMC Somerset Family Practice, Somerset, Pennsylvania
Characterizing Population of Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) at UPMC Shadyside Family Health Center and Improving Provider Comfort in Caring for Patients with IDD
Authors:
Yuko Gibson, MD; Teiichi Takedai, MD
Introduction:
Approximately 1-2% of the US population has an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD). This is a medically vulnerable population that requires competent primary care providers. This project sought to better characterize patients at the UPMC Shadyside Family Health Center (SFHC) with IDD and to educate providers about care for patients with IDD through a lecture.
Methods:
An Epic report identified patients who were billed for an ICD-10 code associated with IDD (F70, F71, F72, F73, F78, F79, F84) in 2021 and 2022. Charts were reviewed to characterize patient ages, race, sex, and comorbidities. A 90-minute didactic session was presented to physicians from the SFHC in January 2022. Immediate pre- and 6-month post-surveys were conducted to assess provider knowledge and comfort with caring for patients with IDD. The run chart method was used for statistical analysis of monthly variation in billing rates before and after the didactic session.
Results:
Of 4213 patients seen at the SFHC in 2021, only 37 unique patients (0.8%) and 49 visits billed one of the designated diagnosis codes for IDD. In 2022, 37 unique patients out of 8863 (0.4%) and 51 visits billed the designated codes. Survey data was unable to be reliably paired as only 1 out of 12 (8%) post-survey responders were present for the didactics intervention. There was no significant difference in provider comfort in caring for patients with IDD in pre- and post-survey analysis (p 0.95). Billing frequency did not change after the didactic session.
Conclusion:
Current billing indicates that 0.4-0.8% of the total SFHC patient population was documented to have IDD, somewhat lower than the prevalence of IDD in the general population. Providers at the SFHC may be under-diagnosing or under-billing diagnosis codes for patients with IDD. Ongoing education and training for providers in diagnosing and caring for patients with IDD will be beneficial.
