EvidenceNOW: Practice Facilitation Boosts Screening for Unhealthy Alcohol Use

EvidenceNOW: EvidenceNOW Primary care practices in Virginia that implemented AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW Model increased the use of recommended screening instruments for unhealthy alcohol use by 41.6 percent in the six months after they received practice facilitation that included tailored education, tools and assistance with workflows, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in JAMA Health Forum. During the same period, clinic-based counseling for unhealthy alcohol use improved by 35.6 percent. Given the number of people treated in the participating practices, this intervention resulted in an additional 171,500 patients being screened annually for unhealthy alcohol use. AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW: Managing Unhealthy Alcohol Use initiative is based on the EvidenceNOW Model, which is designed to help primary care practices increase their capacity for quality improvement with the goals of improving patient and practice health. Access the abstract.