“Alzheimer’s disease must be attacked at the scope and scale equal to the challenge. Alzheimer’s is a cancer-size problem requiring a cancer-size solution,” said George Vradenburg, co-founder and chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. “Our mission is to stop Alzheimer’s by 2020. Our work has focused on disrupting business as usual – increasing research resources, speeding drug development and assuring access of innovative medicines to those with or at risk of the disease. Should drugs in late-stage development prove successful, insurers and physicians will need to step up their game.”
While the analysis takes a positive approach to the innovation pipeline, it also delineates areas that America’s health care system needs to improve upon before new Alzheimer’s treatments are approved.
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These areas include:
Enhancing the training and numbers of front-line physicians, including in primary care, to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s. In addition, the number of geriatricians needs to increase from 7,000 (current) to 30,000 by 2030. Unfortunately, fewer medical students are choosing geriatrics because geriatrics practice is not sustainable financially with a 100 percent Medicare payer mix. Neurologists and psychiatrists typically have a mix of payers.
Improving the accuracy of diagnosis. In some settings, up to half of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease are misdiagnosed, and there is currently a significant under-diagnosis of the disease in populations around the world. The lack of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can also negatively impact the ability of patients to adhere to other chronic care protocols. Visits to memory care specialists in neurology, psychiatry or geriatrics is encouraged.
Improving communication between patients and physicians. Just 45 percent of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s were actually informed of their diagnosis by a doctor, compared to 90 percent of people with cancer and cardiovascular disease who are informed of that diagnosis by their doctor.
Treating Alzheimer’s like the fatal disease that it is, rather than as routine clinical care. The average wait time to see a neurologist was 35 days, a 25 percent increase since 2010. In contrast, a study shows that the average wait time for a cardiologist is 16.8 days, about 50 percent less than the wait time to see a neurologist.
Addressing payment and reimbursement. There is no assurance that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other national health payment authorities and insurance providers will pay for or reimburse for Alzheimer’s treatments.
