Coming Up Empty. Does The Government Look Before It Leaps?

A few months ago I assessed a patient with dementia.  I dutifully ordered the appropriate blood testing and MRI.  As I delved further into the history, I was concerned that there may be a component of depression.  Pseudodementia (memory disturbance and dementia like symptoms caused by depression) can often mimic classic Alzheimer’s disease, but resolves with proper treatment.  The best way to differentiate these two syndromes is neuropsychological testing.  I decided to send my patient to a colleague whom I had been working with for years.  He had recently joined a large multi-specialty group owned by the major hospital system in our area.The patient returned to my office a few weeks later.  Not only did he get the consult, he also was sent directly to the neurologist next door (who worked for the same medical group/hospital), and had all his blood work and MRI repeated.  He was placed on a dementia medication called Aricept.  Now most primary care physicians can manage run of the mill dementia without a neurologist’s input, and many agree with The American Geriatrics Society’s Choosing Wisely campaign that Aricept should be used sparingly.  So it seems my innocent and appropriate neuropsychology consult turned into a very expensive episode fraught with repetitive and unnecessary care.  What gives?A recent study in JAMA by James C. Robinson and Kelly Miller examined per patient expenditures for h...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - Category: Primary Care Authors: Source Type: blogs