Intensive Case Management Cost Is Effective for Dementia Patients

Researchers recently found that, for older adults with dementia, an intensive case management model (ICMM) of care, wherein care was provided within one care organization, was more cost-effective than a linkage model (LM), in which care was provided by multiple care organizations (2016;11(9): e0160908).

The objective of the study, which was published in PLoS One, was to compare the costs and cost effectiveness of the two most prominent types of case management in the Netherlands, ICMM and LM, against those with no access to case management for people with already diagnosed dementia and their caregivers.
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The economic evaluation was conducted from a societal perspective embedded within a 2-year, prospective, observational, controlled, cohort study with 521 informal caregivers and community-dwelling persons with dementia. The models ICMM, LM, and a group with no access to case management were compared.

The economic evaluation related incremental costs to incremental effects regarding neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI), psychological health of the informal caregiver (GHQ-12), and quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) of the person with dementia and informal caregiver.

Researchers found that informal care costs were significantly lower in the ICMM group compared to both other groups. Day center costs were significantly lower in the ICMM group compared to the control group.

The study provides preliminary evidence that the ICMM is cost effective compared to the control group and the LM, but these findings should be interpreted with caution as the study was not a randomized, controlled trial.—Amanda Del Signore