A new study that tracked what Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) costs Medicare during three distinct stages of patient care suggests that the government insurer could realize substantial savings through efforts to reduce the hospitalizations that occur before patients became permanent nursing home residents.Brown University experts collaborating with researchers from Pfizer Inc. analyzed millions of nursing home and Medicare patient data from 1999-2007 to determine that between the time patients were diagnosed with ADRD and the time that they entered a nursing home, Medicare spent, on average, $29,743 per patient on ADRD-related hospitalizations. That figure dropped below $19,000, over a much longer timeframe, once the patients became permanent nursing home residents.