Dementia diagnosis and utilization patterns in a racially diverse population within an integrated health care delivery system

INTRODUCTION: In an effort to identify improvement opportunities for earlier dementia detection and care within a large, integrated health care system serving diverse Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries, we examined where, when, and by whom Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) diagnoses are recorded as well as downstream health care utilization and life care planning. METHODS: Patients 65 years and older, continuously enrolled in the Kaiser Foundation health plan for at least 2 years, and with a first ADRD diagnosis between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, comprised the incident cohort. Electronic health record data were used to identify site and source of the initial diagnosis (clinic vs hospital‐based, provider type), health care utilization in the year before and after diagnosis, and end‐of‐life care. RESULTS: ADRD prevalence was 5.5%. A total of 25,278 individuals had an incident ADRD code (rate: 1.2%) over the study period—nearly half during a hospital‐based encounter. Hospital‐diagnosed patients had higher comorbidities, acute care use before and after diagnosis, and 1‐year mortality than clinic‐diagnosed individuals (36% vs 11%). Many decedents (58%‐72%) received palliative care or hospice. Of the 55% diagnosed as outpatients, nearly two‐thirds were diagnosed by dementia specialists; when used, standardized cognitive assessments indicated moderate stage ADRD. Despite increases in advance care planning and visits to dementia specialists in the year after diagnosis, acute care use also increased for both clinic‐ and hospital‐diagnosed cohorts. DISCUSSION: Similar to other MA plans, ADRD is under‐diagnosed in this health system, compared to traditional Medicare, and diagnosed well beyond the early stages, when opportunities to improve overall outcomes are presumed to be better. Dementia specialists function primarily as consultants whose care does not appear to mitigate acute care use. Strategic targets for ADRD care improvement could focus on generating pragmatic evidence on the value of proactive detection and tracking, care planning, and the role of specialists in chronic care management.