Research In Practice Blog

VDA
Implementing the Virtual Driving Assessment Into Primary Care: A Model That Works
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By Dana Filippoli, Communications Consultant, Clinical Futures and Lindsey Klinger-O'Donnell

Testing a New Care Model: Implementing a Virtual Driving Assessment in Primary Care

Intro
Newly licensed young drivers have a very high crash risk, which is mainly attributable to skill deficits and related driving errors.  Through an innovative initiative made possible by a gift from NJM Insurance, CHOP teams piloted and scaled a process for integrating a novel virtual driving assessment into a busy primary care setting.  

The virtual driving assessment (VDA) is a tool that has been validated to predict crash outcomes and provides evidence-based feedback and insights for improvement. This laptop-based driving simulation tool—with steering wheel, pedals, and a monitor—was designed for convenience and function, but would it be well-received by teen patients in the primary care setting?

The Possibilities Project, the innovation team working in primary care, partnered with the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and the CHOP Primary Care Network, to understand how best to implement the VDA into a busy practice setting, bringing the evidenced based tool directly to adolescents in the healthcare setting.

Study design & findings
Ultimately virtual driving assessment stations were made available at 19 practice sites, in waiting rooms or consult areas. Implementation efforts, including communication and outreach, targeted families and teens, as well as practice staff. Data from 3,000+ completions during adolescent preventative care visits revealed both the feasibility and desirability of implementing this 15-minute self-administered assessment that safely exposes drivers to common, serious crash scenarios.,

“More than 75% of teens who completed the assessment at their primary care preventive visit would recommend it to their friends and would like to take it again,” said co-author Maura Powell, MPH, MBA. “And with some practice sites seeing nearly 30% of teens opting to take the assessment, we think the demand for this tool may be significant.”

Implications 
Because Pennsylvania requires medical evaluation and reporting for licensure, As trusted professionals, primary care clinicians are in a unique position to assess teen driver readiness. And, research has proven the success of this approach in the primary care setting. Linking driving initiation to primary care proved to be both logistically feasible and positively regarded, suggesting that this model for promoting safe driving is scalable.

“Our goal is always to help kids live healthier lives,” said Alexander G Fiks, MD, MSCE, who led this implementation study and is encouraged by these outcomes. “Teen drivers have the highest crash rates of any age group, and innovations like this prove the value of CHOP-supported entities like The Possibilities Project, which uniquely accelerate solutions to some of our nation’s largest problems.”

Watch a video about the research findings from lead author, Dr. Alex Fiks.

Information & Resources

Clinical Futures author(s): 
Maura Powell, MPH, MBA and Alexander G Fiks, MD, MSCE

Additional study author(s) from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: 
Shannon Kelleher, MPH; Alexander K. Gonzalez, MS, MBA; Shukai Cheng, MS; Nicole Koepke, MSN, CRNP; Elizabeth A. Walshe, PhD; Jamillah Millner, MPH; Joshua C. Fischer, BS; Colleen M. Schlotter, BS; Flaura K. Winston, MD, PhD

Citation:
Kelleher et al, “Testing a New Care Model: Implementing a Virtual Driving Assessment in Primary Care.” Ann Fam Med. Online July 22, 2024. DOI: 10.1370/afm.3138.