Frequently Asked Questions for Healthcare Providers

1. What is the Medicare reimbursement?
If there is a provisional diagnosis of dementia or cognitive dysfunction, Medicare procedure codes which involve evaluation of these deficits are reimbursed if the patient has chronic medical condition(s) complicated by possible cognitive deficits.

A GrayMatters® testing session is billed as a 96120: “Neuropsychological testing (e.g. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) administered by a computer, with a qualified health care professional interpretation and report.” The Medicare allowable for this code varies between regions. Asymptomatic screening is not currently reimbursed by Medicare.

2. What is the cost of purchasing the GrayMatters® system?
A one time licensing agreement is required at the time of purchase which varies depending on whether the agreement is with a desktop or notebook version of GrayMatters®. An additional annual fee is required allowing unlimited testing for the one year period.

3. Can I use my own computer and load the software?
The GrayMatters® Dementia Screening System cannot be uploaded or used on any other computer system. The GrayMatters® computers are specially configured for optimal performance, patient confidentiality, and reliability over time.

4. How does the system work over the internet?
If the GrayMatters® unit is connected to the internet at the time of testing, all patient data is sent directly to our testing server. If the unit is not connected to an active internet connection, all test results are stored on the testing unit itself. When the testing unit next senses an active internet connection, the accumulated data will be transferred to our server for scoring. Once the testing server receives the information from a testing unit, the data is entered into a prediction equation and a report is generated immediately.

5. How long does it take to administer?
Testing administration requires 2 to 3 minutes of staff time, followed by 20 to 40 minutes of patient testing time.

6. Does the testing administrator have to be in the room during the test?
A testing administrator must enter demographic information for each patient before the testing begins. Once the information is entered into the system and the patient has been given a very brief introduction, the administrator can leave the room and allow the patient to take the test autonomously.

7. What do I have to do to set the computer up? Is it user friendly?
Setup is very quick and easy. Each GrayMatters® unit is shipped with an instructional DVD which shows step by step how to prepare for and begin testing administration.

8. How are the reports generated?
Once the screening information is sent over the internet to the server, a report is generated immediately. An email notification is sent to the test administrator with a link to retrieve the report.

9. What type of information do the test results provide?
The Patient Screening Report consists of two primary items. First, a score is generated which reflects the probability of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Then, appropriate recommendations based on the probability of MCI or dementia are provided.

The score presented in the reports ranges from 0-10. Higher scores reflect greater likelihood of MCI or dementia. In general, higher scores also reflect greater impairment. These scores, however, apply only to patients in the earliest stages of MCI or dementia.

10. How does GrayMatters® compare to the Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE)?
Screening with the GrayMatters™ System is superior to the MMSE in its sensitivity. The MMSE tends to be relatively insensitive to the earliest impairments seen in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, but the specificity of the MMSE is very high. Thus, one can expect that a patient who scores very poorly on the MMSE is very likely to be impaired, but someone who scores in the normal range on the MMSE might still be impaired. The GrayMatters™ system is designed to be highly sensitive to the earliest symptoms of dementia in order to identify impaired individuals as early as possible.

11. Who is an appropriate candidate for GrayMatters®?
The GrayMatters® system is designed to be used in a variety of settings on patients from age 50+. The screening subject must have certain basic sensory and motor capabilities for valid results. In general, no prior experience with computers is required or expected, and the subject must be capable of seeing the touch-screen and hearing the GrayMatters® instructions adequately. The GrayMatters® system is designed to detect the earliest onset of dementia and therefore screening an individual with obvious severe impairment is not necessarily recommended, other than to establish a baseline performance.

12. What does the system test?
The GrayMatters® system tests for the earliest symptoms of dementia and mild cognitive impairment by implementing progressively difficult tasks of executive function, learning, memory, and mental control.

13. Are there any other appropriate uses for the GrayMatters® Screening system?
The GrayMatters® system is standardized to detect the earliest symptoms of dementia and mild cognitive impairment. However, at Dementia Screening Inc., we continue in research and development for other appropriate uses for the GrayMatters™ system such as in cases of traumatic brain injuries, strokes, and pre and post-operation cognitive evaluations.

14. How reliable are the results?
For both the DAT scores and VDR scores, there was no statistically significant difference in mean scores from baseline to retesting in a retest reliability study. The results of the reliability study indicate that the VDR scores are comparable to reliability of the Wechsler Memory Scale-3 (WMS-3) in terms of stability over time.

15. Are foreign language versions available?
The GrayMatters® system standardized version is currently only available in the English language. However, a Spanish language version of the GrayMatters® system is completed, and standardization is currently underway.