Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded Columbia University's Health Sciences Division a Project Grant of $452,375 under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to conduct research examining the impact of nurse practitioner (NP) primary care models on health disparities among persons living with dementia (PLWD). The research project, spanning from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2028, will employ novel methodological approaches to identify and analyze NP-delivered primary care within Medicare administrative claims data. The study addresses a critical gap in healthcare delivery knowledge by uncovering NP primary care models that are typically invisible in claims datasets due to incident-to billing practices and the absence of specialty identifiers for NPs.

The research deliverables include systematic identification of PLWD receiving care through two distinct NP primary care models—NPs serving as main primary care providers versus NPs providing ancillary services such as care coordination—and comparative analysis of patient demographic and racial/ethnic composition across these models. The project will determine the effect of NP primary care models on clinical outcomes, including all-cause and preventable hospitalizations and emergency department utilization rates, with particular focus on assessing health disparities across low-income, rural, and racial and ethnic populations. These research findings will provide evidence-based insights to inform workforce optimization and healthcare delivery strategies for improving primary care access and reducing acute care utilization among vulnerable populations with dementia.