Aims: Variations in dementia diagnosis and management can lead to poorer outcomes for patients and communities. The Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT) Registry is a clinical quality registry (CQR) established to benchmark clinical practice and support best diagnosis and care.
Methods: The ADNeT Registry recruits clinics which assess cognitive disorders. Clinicians input a minimum dataset at diagnosis. The Registry then invites patients, and/or caregivers to complete surveys on experiences of care and quality of life. Data is analysed, benchmarked, and reported back regularly to sites.
Results: By the end of 2024, the ADNeT Registry had 74 contributing clinical sites, 6691 participants and had published three annual reports. Key findings include that the median age for dementia diagnosis in Australia is 79 years, that completion of basic diagnostic assessments exceeds 90%, and that only 58% of patients are assessed within 3 months of referral or are referred on to post-diagnostic programs. Biomarkers are used infrequently (<2%). The Registry has provided up to six benchmarked site reports to each participating clinic, supporting services with audit, accreditation and service evaluation and clinicians with meeting continuous professional development requirements. Registry data will be utilised by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for evaluation of the National Dementia Action Plan.
Conclusions: The ADNeT Registry demonstrates how CQRs can drive local improvements in clinical practice whilst collecting valuable high-level clinical data at a national level. The dataset will also be utilised to measure safety and real-world outcomes of emerging diagnostics and treatments for dementia.