Medicare, doctors, and patient choices that shape Alzheimer's care quality
Official title: Medicare and Market Demand for Quality
Funded at Harvard Medical School · NIH-11416722 · Data updated 2026-11-12
The project uses doctors' and patients' judgments together with Medicare data to find what helps people with Alzheimer's get higher-quality care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard Medical School NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2009 |
| Project end | April 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $288,065 |
| NIH project number | 5P01AG032952-17 |
| Project ID | NIH-11416722 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Medicare beneficiaries living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (and their caregivers), and clinicians who treat them, are the most relevant participants.
✕Less likely to help
People not covered by Medicare or those with health issues unrelated to dementia may not see direct benefits from this project's findings.
What this research studies
The team collects how physicians and patients judge provider quality using residency evaluations, board exam scores, and which providers doctors choose for their own care. They combine those judgments with standard quality metrics and Medicare data to identify where limited information or barriers to switching keep patients from better care. The work focuses on Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and the markets that serve them. The aim is to point to policy changes or tools that could direct patients toward higher-quality providers and make it easier to change providers when needed.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to Medicare policies or tools that help people with Alzheimer's find and receive higher-quality care.
How similar studies have gone: Past strategies like pay-for-performance and public reporting have had limited success, so combining clinician judgments with Medicare data is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Harvard Medical School
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Agha, Leila S. — Harvard Medical School
- Study coordinator: Agha, Leila S.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.