Archives of internal medicine
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Nursing home residents with advanced dementia commonly experience burdensome and costly interventions (eg, tube feeding) that may be of limited clinical benefit. To our knowledge, Medicare expenditures have not been extensively described in this population. ⋯ Medicare expenditures among nursing home residents with advanced dementia vary substantially. Hospitalizations and hospice account for most spending. Strategies that promote high-quality palliative care may shift expenditures away from aggressive treatments for these patients at the end of life.