Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS
Geriatric Medicine Specialist
My Locations
About Me
I am a clinical investigator and geriatrician. I enjoy helping to care for older adults who are admitted to the hospital. I have a special interest in patients with multiple chronic conditions, and who are at greatest risk of delirium and other geriatric syndromes that frequently occur in the hospital.
LGBTQ+ Identified or Ally
- Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience, Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care 2024
- Professor of Medicine, Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care 2020
- Professor in Neurology, Neurology 2022
Training and Education
In the News
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Clinical Focus and Research
My research focuses on improving health for older adults with multiple chronic conditions. In particular, I have interest and expertise related to the interface between late-life vision loss and cognitive decline. I work with a team of collaborators that includes investigators from the Duke Aging Center, Duke Eye Center, the Duke/UNC-Chapel Hill Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, and the Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Duke. We are pursuing studies to improve our understanding of the potential link between age-related diseases of the eye and brain. We are also working on programs to improve quality of life and independence for people living with co-existing visual and cognitive impairments.
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ADRC Clinical Cohort (Alzheimer's Disease)IRB# PRO00103958 , NCT# NCT06703541
- Duke/UNC ADAR Program awarded by National Institutes of Health 2024 - 2029
- Reese, Melody, Mary Cooter Wright, Ken C. Roberts, Jeffrey N. Browndyke, Micheal Bennett, Leah Acker, Michael J. Devinney, et al. “Associations between anaesthetic dose-adjusted intraoperative EEG alpha power, processing speed, and postoperative delirium: analysis of data from three prospective studies.” Br J Anaesth, April 10, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2024.12.041.
- Colón-Emeric, Cathleen, Jeremy Walston, Alessandro Bartolomucci, Judith Carroll, Martin Picard, Adam Salmon, Shakira Suglia, Heather Whitson, and Peter Abadir. “Stress tests and biomarkers of resilience: Proceedings of the second state of resilience science conference.” J Am Geriatr Soc 73, no. 4 (April 2025): 1017–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.19246.
- Burrows, Brett T., Maren K. Olsen, Theodore S. Z. Berkowitz, Battista Smith, Heather E. Whitson, Nicole DePasquale, Virginia Wang, Matthew L. Maciejewski, Steven D. Crowley, and C Barrett Bowling. “Psychological Resilience and Physical Function in Veterans With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Brief Report.” J Am Geriatr Soc, March 13, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.19422.
- Reese, Melody, Megan K. Wong, Vanessa Cheong, Christine I. Ha, Mary Cooter Wright, Jeffrey Browndyke, Eugene Moretti, et al. “Cognitive and Cerebrospinal Fluid Alzheimer's Disease-related Biomarker Trajectories in Older Surgical Patients and Matched Nonsurgical Controls.” In Anesthesiology, 140:963–78, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004924.
- Au, S., K. Roberts, M. Cooler, L. Acker, C. Ha, M. Woldorff, C. Colon-Emeric, H. Whitson, and M. Berger. “Preoperative EEG: A Potential Predictor of Postoperative Delirium in Older Adults.” In JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, 69:S222–23, 2021.
- Zietlow, Kahli E., Deborah M. Oyeyemi, Sarah E. Cook, Margaret Hardy, Shelley R. McDonald, Sandhya Lagoo-Deenadayalan, Mitchell T. Heflin, and Heather E. Whitson. “RESEARCHCognition and Capacity to Consent for Elective Surgery.” In J Am Geriatr Soc, 68:2694–96, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16786.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- American Geriatrics Society
- Driven Data
- Orna Therapeutics
- UpToDate, Inc
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine
- Yale University