Make AIMS the standard of care at your organization with integrated EHR advisories
Amalgam Rx
Enabling better healthcare decisions. In the provider workflow. In patients’ everyday lives.
The AIMS assessment is a qualitative tool for diagnosing and monitoring involuntary movements caused by antipsychotic medications. Learn how automated advisories integrated with your EHR can increase the frequency of the assessment within your care organization.
In March 2024, Amalgam Rx conducted 30 in-depth interviews with clinicians working in psychiatric and primary care settings regarding their experience with drug-induced movement disorders (DIMDs), like tardive dyskinesia (TD), among patients who take antipsychotic medications. Specifically, we asked them to share their knowledge, experience, and opinions surrounding the abnormal involuntary movement scale (AIMS) for diagnosing and monitoring DIMDs.
AIMS is a qualitative assessment that is considered the standard of care by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). However, many of the primary care clinicians we spoke with reported giving higher priority to other common side effects–namely, metabolic. They also mentioned feeling generally under-informed on the assessment’s import and efficacy.
Some told us that their tight appointment schedules, which require them to prioritize what they do—or don’t do—in the exam room, were a major contributing factor to AIMS’s deprioritization. Conversely, others seem committed to AIMS because of the opportunity it provides for early detection and treatment of involuntary movements.
With some sources claiming that more than 600,000 Americans are currently diagnosed with DIMDs and nearly 1-in-4 patients presenting some degree of involuntary movements caused by their medication, the AIMS assessment provides the chance to make a meaningful impact on a substantial portion of a vulnerable population.
Watch this Becker’s webinar about AIMS, including details on how the integrated advisories work.
Amalgam Rx has developed a clinical advisory that’s compatible with any electronic health record (EHR), making sure providers conduct the AIMS assessment for all patients who meet the requisite criteria.
The role of EHR advisories for AIMS
Every psychiatric professional we talked with was familiar with AIMS and conducted whenever warranted. The primary care clinicians, however, reported feeling less able to do the same.
Some of the primary care physicians and nurse practitioners claimed to have only vague understandings of AIMS and DIMDs, especially those caused by atypical medications. Others are familiar with the assessment, but are often compelled not to conduct the assessment due to time constraints and the need to prioritize how they spend their appointment time.
Regardless of clinicians’ perspectives, automated EHR advisories can play an important role in helping to elevate the AIMS assessment as the standard of care for patients on antipsychotic drugs.
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How do the AIMS advisories work?
When a patient's chart meets certain criteria for their diagnosis, medication regimen, and diagnostic history, an automated advisory will appear. It makes the recommendation to either conduct the assessment immediately and record the score in the patient’s chart or order the assessment to be completed by someone else later on.
The advisory also provides a link to the official APA guidelines and educational resources for conducting the assessment properly, including demonstration videos.
Imagine a hypothetical patient to serve as an example.?
Amanda Gregory is a 26-year-old female diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been taking 2 mg of risperidone twice daily. It’s been more than six months since her last AIMS assessment.
With these criteria, a tardive dyskinesia advisory appears, recommending that an AIMS assessment be conducted.
At this point, clinicians have the option to order the assessment with just one click. Or, they can conduct AIMS themselves and record the score in the patient’s chart.
With short appointment times and busy schedules, AIMS automated advisories within the EHR can help your organization’s primary care providers uphold the standard of care for diagnosing and monitoring DIMDs for patients on antipsychotic medications.
Contact Travis Larrison to schedule a demo and see these EHR advisories in action.
Beyond advisories: other best practices for AIMS
Beyond the use of EHR advisories for increasing the frequency of AIMS assessments when needed, the clinicians we spoke to shared other best practices that may help propagate the assessment within your organization.
Visit Amalgam Rx.com/AIMS to learn more about how you can support a vulnerable patient population by integrating automated AIMS advisories within your organization's EHR.