Health service utilization among Alzheimer's disease patients: Evidence from managed care

Few studies have examined the disease burden of AD in commercial managed care settings. Similar to results of comparative studies with Medicare data, the disease burden is greater for patients with AD compared with a matched control cohort, with a different mix and a greater number of comorbid health care conditions partially accounting for this difference. As membership in commercial and Medicare managed care plans increases, plans will need to develop effective mechanisms to manage the health care of high-risk, high-cost patients with AD.