Are primary care providers ready?

A Gerontological Society of America (GSA) report summarizes survey findings on the readiness of the primary care workforce to adopt digital cognitive assessments (DCAs) for use in the diagnostic process for cognitive impairment and dementia. The work is titled “Advancing Cognitive Care: Clinician Awareness, Attitudes, and Interest in Digital Cognitive Assessments for Cognitive Evaluation.”

“While the clinical literature consistently highlights early detection as a critical lever in managing Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, detecting subtle changes in cognition remains challenging,” said GSA Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Practice Innovation Lisa C. McGuire, Ph.D., FAPA, FGSA. “Current reliance on analog, paper-based screenings introduces a level of subjectivity and coarseness in data that may miss the subtle markers of early-stage decline.”

She added that emerging evidence suggests that digitizing assessments may improve care across the continuum. By providing granular insights into cognitive trajectories, DCAs may facilitate earlier therapeutic intervention and more cohesive care coordination—ultimately strengthening dementia care and improving outcomes for people living with dementia and their caregivers.

This report was informed by surveys of health care providers commissioned by the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease and conducted in August and September 2025 by GSA and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). It provides important information about integrating digital tools to ease the burden on clinicians and improve diagnostic accuracy. Insights from these surveys revealed both the promise and the practical challenges of integrating DCAs into everyday clinical practice and identified key priorities for enabling broader adoption.

“The number of undiagnosed dementia cases underscores the need to modernize how we screen for cognitive impairment,” said McGuire. “This report distills complex feedback from frontline clinicians into actionable insights, helping us prepare primary care teams for a more streamlined and timely diagnostic experience.”

The survey found that nearly nine in 10 AAFP respondents (88%) and nearly eight in 10 (77%) GSA respondents reported using standardized paper assessments. However, the findings indicated that health care providers are ready and willing to adopt DCAs in their practices, with over 95% of respondents from both groups reporting they are very or somewhat interested in using DCAs in their practice. Additionally, the surveys documented that clinicians want more support to do so.

Key priorities identified for accelerating adoption of DCAs include the following:

• Seamless incorporation into existing electronic health record and workflow systems.
• Guidance and consistency around coding, billing, and payer coverage.
• Educational needs: Practical training, continuing medical education, and clinical guidelines to strengthen confidence in selecting and interpreting DCAs.

This new report updates and reinforces GSA’s flagship resource, The GSA KAER Toolkit for Brain Health, utilizing the KAER framework—kickstart conversations, assess for cognitive impairment, evaluate for dementia, and refer to community resources—to improve brain health care delivery. The GSA KAER Toolkit supports primary care teams in adopting a comprehensive, interprofessional, and person-centered approach to discussing brain health, detecting cognitive impairment, diagnosing dementia, and connecting individuals to community-based supports.

The toolkit offers practical strategies, educational materials, and validated clinical tools designed for integration into primary care workflows, while also serving as a resource for educators and students in fields such as medicine, nursing, and social work.

This report on DCAs complements earlier GSA research on blood-based biomarkers as evolving diagnostics for dementia and expands the GSA KAER Toolkit to include the latest innovations in diagnostics.

Provided by
The Gerontological Society of America