Evaluating the Economic Impact of Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease
A team of researchers from Analysis Group and Eli Lilly and Company compared the health care resource use and costs of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) who were seen by a specialist at the time of first diagnosis of cognitive decline with patients who were not initially seen by a specialist. The team, including Managing Principal Noam Kirson, affiliate Howard Birnbaum, and Vice President Urvi Desai, conducted a retrospective analysis of de-identified administrative claims for more than three million Medicare beneficiaries that included patients who had been diagnosed with AD between 2009 and 2012.
The researchers determined that patients seen by a specialist when first diagnosed with cognitive symptoms were more likely to be diagnosed with AD sooner and incurred lower medical costs -- particularly in the year following the initial cognitive decline diagnosis.