Site Readiness Framework to Improve Health System Preparedness for a Potential New Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment Paradigm

Abstract

New therapies that address the underlying pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), coupled with the growth of the AD population, will transform the AD care pathway and present significant challenges to health systems. We explored real-world challenges health systems may face in delivering potential new AD therapies with diverse stakeholders. Key challenges in care included integrating primary care providers into assessment and management, availability of memory care specialists, understanding payment and coverage issues and training mid-level providers to help coordinate care and serve as a shared resource across the system. This input informed a novel Site Readiness Framework for AD, comprising self-assessment exercises to identify health system capabilities and gaps and a framework of core strategies and responsive tools to help prepare to integrate new AD therapies. These resources may help health systems improve readiness to modify care pathways to integrate new therapies for AD.

A Model Predicting Healthcare Capacity Gaps For Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Treatment in Canada

“…Results of this model simulation show the Canadian healthcare system has an extremely low capacity to diagnose, assess eligibility, and treat (<7% of potential patients) eAD with an Aβ-targeted DMT. Importantly, our findings magnify the issues highlighted by a previous Canadian model 32 and corroborate findings from other countries, including the USA 15 and Brazil. 26 Indeed, our data underscore the need for AD specialist resources called for by Liu et al 32 in their modeling, especially considering only a fraction of Canadian neurologists, geriatricians, and psychologists specialize in AD care.…”

“…2 Until recently, although there had been continued progress in understanding AD pathophysiology, a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) remained elusive. 15,16 However, a number of drugs aimed at modifying the disease in its earlier stages (i.e. MCI due to AD and mild AD dementia) are currently under investigation or have recently reported promising results.…”