Emory Integrated Memory Care offering new payment model for patients

ATLANTA - Metro Atlanta patients on Medicaid living with dementia now have access to a new alternative payment model aimed at improving their quality of life. This model, introduced through a collaboration between Emory Integrated Memory Care and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), helps patients remain in their homes longer and reduces the burden on unpaid caregivers.

This initiative comes in response to the Alzheimer's Association's recent report, which highlights that over 10% of Georgia's population, approximately 188,000 people, live with Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD). 

The voluntary, alternative payment model by CMS is being piloted at 400 sites nationwide, with Emory Integrated Memory Care being the sole participant in Georgia for 2024. 

The GUIDE Model stands out by covering respite for unpaid caregivers, offering caregiver education, support groups, and 24/7 access to a clinical team. It also adjusts payments based on quality of care and caregiver outcomes.

Emory Integrated Memory Care, a joint initiative between Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Emory Healthcare, provides geriatric primary care, dementia care, and caregiver support to 650 active patients. Since its inception in 2015, the nurse-managed practice has treated over 3,000 patients. It operates as an outpatient clinic at the Emory Brain Health Center in Brookhaven and select senior living communities in Atlanta.

Medicare patients with dementia living in metro-Atlanta can enroll in the GUIDE payment model by contacting Emory Integrated Memory Care. Pre-screening is available by visiting nursing.emory.edu/imc or calling 404-712-6929.