early diagnosis

Rebate call for family consults in dementia diagnosis

A SPECIFIC Medicare item number should be allocated for GPs to consult with family members of individuals suspected to have dementia to facilitate earlier diagnosis, experts say. The call follows this week’s publication of two separate reports on the need for diagnosing dementia early. The World Alzheimer Report , produced by Alzheimer’s Disease International, found that only 20–50% of dementia cases were recognised in primary care in high income countries. And a report from Alzheimer’s Australia, Timely Diagnosis of Dementia: Can We Do Better? , estimated that in ...