End-of-Life health care service use and cost among Medicare decedents with neurodegenerative diseases

End-of-Life health care service use and cost among Medicare decedents with neurodegenerative diseases
Neurology; by Whitley W Aamodt, Chuxuan Sun, Nabila Dahodwala, Holly Elser, Andrea L C Schneider, John T Farrar, Norma B Coe, Allison W Willis; 11/24
We conducted a retrospective study of Medicare Part A and B beneficiaries with Alzheimer disease (AD), Parkinson disease (PD), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who died in 2018. Decedents diagnosed with malignant brain tumors or pancreatic cancer served as non-neurodegenerative comparators... Persons with neurodegenerative diseases in the United States are more likely to visit the ED and less likely to use inpatient and hospice services at EoL than persons with brain or pancreatic cancer. These group differences may stem from prognostic uncertainty and reflect inadequate EoL care practices, requiring further investigation to ensure more timely palliative care and hospice referrals.