The Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles, are receiving a CMS Health Care Innovation Award to expand a new program to provide coordinated, comprehensive, patient and family-centered, and efficient care for approximately 1000 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. The UCLA Health System operates in the western area of Los Angeles County. By training and deploying professional and non-professional workers and unpaid volunteers, expanding a dementia registry, conducting patient needs assessments, and creating individualized dementia care plans, the program is expected to reduce hospitalizations and shorten hospital stays, reduce emergency room visits, and improve patient health, caregiver health, and quality of care with estimated savings of approximately $6.9 million. Over the three-year period, the Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles program will train an estimated 2500 workers, while creating an estimated 10 new jobs. These workers will include nurse practitioners, who will be trained as dementia care managers. These dementia care managers will in turn help train primary care providers and patient care givers on dementia care.
