Disclosure of dementia diagnosis

Measure Purpose: Ensure patients are informed of their diagnosis.

The numerator: Patients and patient/caregiver dyads who have been told (1) that they have dementia and (2) what disease is most likely responsible

is divided by

The denominator: patients with a diagnosis of a qualifying dementing disorder or disease. (See measure specifications for full list of qualifying diagnoses.)

Exclusions are removed from the denominator:

• Diagnosis previously disclosed
• Disclosure offered, but patient declines information
• Patient does not have caregiver

Key Phrases

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

• Diagnosis disclosed
• Etiology discussed

Measure Calculation Example

Dr. Zhang has 100 patients between January 1 and December 31 that were diagnosed with a qualifying dementing disorder or disease. This is the denominator. Ten patients declined to discuss the causes of their diagnosis with Dr. Zhang, and three patients did not have a caregiver available to discuss this information. These 13 patients (10+3) are removed from the denominator as exclusions.

Of the 87 remaining patients, 33 had a discussion with Dr. Zhang about their diagnosis and causation with a caregiver present.  This is the numerator.

Quality of patient care = 33/87. Dr. Zhang has a score of 37.9% for this measure.