Improving Device-Aided Therapy Screening in Parkinson Disease: Hubert Fernandez, MD
The director of the Center for Neurological Restoration at Cleveland Clinic discussed why gaps remain in screening for patients with Parkinson disease who may be eligible for device-aided therapies.
"There’s only so much you can do in a 15- to 30-minute office follow-up visit. You can’t blame this [inadequate screening] solely on clinicians.”
A study led by Hubert Fernandez, MD, used MANAGE-PD, a validated tool developed to support clinical decision-making in timely management of Parkinson disease (PD)-related symptoms, to evaluate care gaps in patients with PD inadequately controlled on oral medications and eligible for device-aided therapies. All told, 19% of the analytical sample (n = 2709) were inadequately controlled on oral therapy and eligible for device-aided therapies; however, 50% of those deemed eligible did not report having any discussion with providers about future device-aided therapies.
Fernandez, director of the Center for Neurological Restoration at Cleveland Clinic, noted his belief that the data speak to a larger issue in the screening process for patients who may be eligible for a new direction of treatment. He explained to NeurologyLive that this is an extremely time-sensitive process in which treatment is only effective within the right time window.
According to Fernandez, our increased understanding of PD as not a pure motor neurological disorder but a disorder that encompasses many other nonmotor aspects has played a role in the time clinicians can dedicate to providing patients with the proper screening and care they need. In this interview, he discussed some of the challenges associated with improving the process for screening for device-aided therapies, along with how the MANAGE-PD tool may help.
