Education and support of caregivers for patients with dementia

Measure Purpose: Ensure caregivers of patients with dementia were provided education and support.

The numerator: patients with dementia whose caregiver were provided with education on dementia disease management and health behavior changes AND were referred to additional support

is divided by

The denominator: all patients with dementia (see measure specification for complete list of qualifying diagnoses.)

Exclusions are removed from the denominator:

• Patient does not have a caregiver
• Caregiver is trained and certified in dementia care
• Patient/caregiver dyad has been referred to appropriate resources and connection to those resources confirmed

Key Phrases

Examples of key phrases you could use to meet the measure:

• Caregiver education and referral to community resources
• Caregiver education and referral to Alzheimer's Association
• Spouse education and referral for anxiety

Measure Calculation Example

Dr. Reddy has 100 patients between January 1 and December 31 with a diagnosis of dementia. This is the denominator. Seven patients do not have an identified caregiver. Twelve patients have caregivers certified in dementia care. Two patients and their caregivers are connected to dementia education and support resources. These 21 (7+12+2) patients are removed from the denominator as they meet exclusions.

Of the remaining 79 patients, Dr. Reddy provides education on disease management and health behavior changes to 45 patients, and Dr. Reddy refers 31 of these caregivers to additional support resources. Thirty-one is the numerator.

Quality of patient care = 31/(100-21). Dr. Reddy has a score of 39.2% for this measure.