On July 1, 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law a bill relating to continuing medical education (“CME”) requirements for Alzheimer’s disease. The Act, which is entitled “An Act Concerning Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Training and Best Practices,” will be effective on January 1, 2020.
The current CME provisions for Connecticut-licensed physicians include a requirement to complete at least one hour of CME relating to behavioral health during each CME period, while advanced practice registered nurses (“APRNs”) are required to complete at least two hours of CME on mental health conditions common to veterans and their families. The new Act makes several modifications to these requirements, as follows.
Physicians can satisfy their behavioral health CME by completing at least two hours of training directed to “diagnosing and treating … cognitive conditions, including … Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, delirium, related cognitive impairments and geriatric depression.”
Physicians can also satisfy their CME requirements by completing at least two hours of training directed to “diagnosing and treating … mental health conditions … common to veterans and family members of veterans.”
APRNs can count two or more hours of training towards their CME requirement relating to “mental health conditions common to veterans and family members of veterans” for “diagnosing and treating cognitive and mental health conditions, including … Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, delirium, related cognitive impairments and geriatric depression.”
The Connecticut population has a large burden of Alzheimer’s disease. There are 78,000 people with Alzheimer’s disease in the state, and an additional 178,000 family members and care providers for these patients. In addition, the Medicaid costs to Connecticut for Alzheimer’s patient care in 2019 are estimated to be $962 million, and there is a projected increase in those costs of 21.9% from 2019 to 2025.
Connecticut has followed other states with CME requirements for Alzheimer’s disease, including Massachusetts which requires physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers who treat adult populations to take a one-time educational course on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.