Strategic intelligence monitor on personal health systems, phase 3 (SIMPHS3) : PDTA (Italy), case study report

Percorsi Diagnostico e Terapeutici Assistenziali (PDTA, in English "Assisted Diagnostic and Therapeutic Pathways") is a patient-centric Integrated Care service organised by the Brescia Health Care Unit in Brescia Province (Italy). Brescia is the largest province of the Lombardy region and is second in terms of number of inhabitants after the province of Milan with 1.25 million inhabitants in 2013. The PDTA case started about 15 years ago as an initiative of a local health unit, which developed the PDTA approach with the support of the local GPs' Unions and the local Associations of Health Care Specialists. The PDTA case addresses patients with complex illnesses, as well as vulnerable subgroups (e.g. persons that suffer for dementia/Alzheimer's). In order to exemplify and deepen the analysis of the case study, we have specifically studied the PDTA case applied to dementia/Alzheimer patients who represent 5% of the Brescia province population of the age group 64 and older (about 15,000 individuals). Currently, the PDTA case is providing services to 50% of the people suffering from dementia.