Electronic Tools to Assist With Identification of and Counseling for Overweight Patients

Overweight adults (Body Mass Index [BMI] 25-29.9) are at high risk for developing obesity,
but rates of physician identification and counseling of overweight adults are low. Alerts
and tools embedded in the electronic medical record have shown promise in enhancing quality
improvement efforts.

Our aim is to design and assess the impact of an electronic alert and tool set to assist
with identification and counseling of overweight patients with a BMI 27-29.9. Although the
category of overweight patients spans BMI 25-29.9, we are including only patients with BMI
27-29.9 in order to focus resources on the most at-risk pre-obese population.

We will develop a tool set including the following components: automatic calculation of BMI,
alert for overweight status, counseling template for weight loss goal-setting, linkage to
referral options, and access to relevant patient handouts. Physicians in the Northwestern
Memorial Faculty Foundation General Internal Medicine (NMFF GIM) practice who consent to
participate in the study will be randomized into two groups, with one group of physicians
receiving access to these tools. The other group of physicians will continue to provide
their usual care for overweight patients. Outcome measures will include the following: tool
usage; documentation of overweight in the problem list, encounter diagnosis, or note text;
counseling for overweight and documentation of specific behavioral goals. Measures will be
obtained via retrospective chart review.