Paper: Health Care Utilization and Cost Outcomes of a Comprehensive Dementia Care Program
JAMA Internal Medicine has released a paper, "Health Care Utilization and Cost Outcomes of a Comprehensive Dementia Care Program for Medicare Beneficiaries," focused on the UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program.
In the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program, people with dementia and their caregivers meet with a nurse practitioner specializing in dementia care for a 90-minute in-person assessment and then receive a personalized dementia care plan that addresses the medical, mental health and social needs of both people. The nurse practitioners work collaboratively with the patient’s primary care provider and specialist physicians to implement the care plan, including adjustments as needs change over time.
“The findings of this study show that a health care system-based comprehensive dementia care program can keep persons with dementia in their homes and in the community without any additional cost to Medicare,” said senior author, David Reuben, M.D., Archstone Professor of Medicine, and chief, UCLA Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.
To go to the paper, click here.
To go to a recent Health Affairs paper, "An Alternative Payment Model to Support Widespread Use of Collaborative Dementia Care Models," click here.
To learn more about the program, click here.
To learn about JAHF's support of dissemination of the program, click here.