Dementia patients often have nowhere else to turn but primary care. Here's how to handle it better.

More than 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, and that number is projected to nearly double by 2060. For a condition with no cure and complex, evolving care needs, the question of who manages these patients has never been more urgent.

Neurologists, geriatricians, and psychiatrists — the specialists traditionally tasked with dementia care — cannot meet the demand. Wait times at memory clinics often stretch three to six months, and in rural areas, specialist access can be virtually nonexistent. The result is a growing population of patients who fall through the cracks, receiving delayed diagnoses and fragmented follow-up care.

Primary care physicians are already absorbing much of that burden, often without adequate training, time or reimbursement. A typical office visit runs 15 to 20 minutes — far too short to address the cognitive, behavioral, and caregiver support needs that dementia demands.

Meanwhile, the caregiving infrastructure around these patients is strained. Family members bear enormous emotional and financial costs, and without guidance from a trusted physician, many don't know where to turn.

Medical Economics spoke with Anna Chodos, MD, MPH, executive director, Dementia Care Aware, about this growing challenge for primary care physicians and how they can handle it better.