Abstract Details

Title A Quality Improvement Initiative to Enhance Early Alzheimer’s Disease Detection and Diagnosis at a Southeastern Academic Medical Center

Topic Aging, Dementia, and Behavioral Neurology

Presentation(s) P4 - Poster Session 4 (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 12-007

Objective To improve early identification and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by optimizing cognitive screening, referral pathways, and diagnostic readiness across primary care and neurology practices.

Background Although new diagnostic and therapeutic options are available, early AD recognition is often delayed by inconsistent cognitive screening, referral inefficiencies, and limited biomarker access. A quality improvement (QI) initiative was implemented to address these barriers through education, workflow redesign, and infrastructure development.

Design/Methods A multidisciplinary steering committee applied Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) methods to establish a dedicated mild cognitive impairment (MCI) clinic, integrate an EHR-based order set with structured screening and referral fields, develop a registry and real-time dashboards, and conduct CME-accredited training for primary care clinicians (December 2024). Data from March 2024 to September 2025 were analyzed for referral volume, diagnostic testing, and confirmed AD-related diagnoses.

Results The average referral-to-diagnosis interval shortened to 146 days (≈5 months), reflecting a 17% improvement in timeliness. Among 3,994 neurology referrals, 669 (16.8%) were cognitive-related; 268 (40.1%) resulted in neurology visits, 115 (42.9%) included diagnostic testing, and 61 (9.1%) yielded a confirmed AD-related diagnosis (37 MCI, 5 mild dementia, 19 AD). Following the CME intervention, monthly referral volume increased by ~25%, diagnostic testing utilization rose from 17% to 22%, and cumulative confirmed diagnoses more than tripled. Biomarker tracking expanded with PET reimbursement and EHR enhancements, though pre-referral cognitive testing documentation remained modest (~15–18%).

Conclusions System-level QI interventions, including provider education, EHR integration, and creation of a specialized MCI clinic, improved diagnostic efficiency, biomarker readiness, and timeliness of AD diagnosis. Ongoing efforts focus on standardizing cognitive screening and scaling this model across primary care settings.

Authors/Disclosures
Ted Singer, BA, CHCP PRESENTER	Mr. Singer has nothing to disclose.
Gregory Pontone	Dr. Pontone has nothing to disclose.
Rachel Reise, PharmD	Ms. Reise has nothing to disclose.
Eric I. Rosenberg, MD	The institution of Dr. Rosenberg has received research support from University of Florida. Dr. Rosenberg has received personal compensation in the range of $100,000-$499,999 for serving as a Faculty with University of Florida.
Chris Kriz, MHA, CHCP	Mr. Kriz has nothing to disclose.
Kristin L. Tomlinson, PhD (PeerView Institute for Medical ��ɫ��)	Dr. Tomlinson has nothing to disclose.

��ɫ����

��ɫ����

��ɫ��

��ɫ��