Keep looking for causes
Path 1: Keep looking for causes. The other path: Comfort first.
The short answer
- Ask for a care-plan visit, code 99483.
- Get the medicines reviewed and the labs done.
- Pick a doctor who will look. The list · The questions.
- Palliative care can run alongside this path.
The steps
- Book the care-plan visit (code 99483). (Any doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, by video too. About an hour; it ends in a written plan.) cms.gov
- Bring every bottle. Ask which could cause confusion, sleepiness, falls or bad nights, and which can be lowered or stopped. (A Part D plan may offer a free pharmacist review: ask about "MTM".)
- Check the labs: B12, folate, homocysteine, vitamin D, thyroid. (B vitamins slowed brain shrinkage in people over 70 with memory problems, most clearly when homocysteine was high.) Vitamins.
- Check the fixable causes: pain, infection, constipation, the bladder, sleep apnea, restless legs, low mood, hearing and sight. Causes and fixes.
- Change one thing at a time and keep a log. (Check at 2 to 4 weeks.)
Who will look
Picked for later stages, Medicare first.
| Who | Good for | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Barrow Alzheimer's and Memory Disorders Program Phoenix, in person only Medicare: yes | Checks for mimics: strokes, fluid on the brain, depression. Sees mild to severe. | 602-406-6262 |
| Cunningham Center for Compassionate Aging Prescott; ask about your county Medicare: GUIDE dementia program | A long first evaluation with you, by a geriatric and palliative team | 928-775-5567 |
| Banner Alzheimer's Institute Phoenix and Tucson | Memory center | 602-839-6900 |
| Banner Dementia Care Partners Maricopa and Pima counties Free with Original Medicare | Coaches and check-ins at home. Not on hospice, Medicare Advantage or in memory care. | 623-832-6500, option 6 |
| Tasha Powell, MD, neurologist, Longevity Neurology Center Scottsdale or video Medicare: no, private pay | Looks deeper when the diagnosis does not explain everything | 480-770-0427 |
| Isaac Health By video, if they cover your ZIP code Medicare: yes | Neurologist-led; checks the full medicine list | 888-818-2059 |
| Geriatric Solutions House calls in metro Phoenix Medicare: ask | Homebound, with a pharmacist review | 602-954-0444 |
| Naturopathic Physicians Group (NMD) Scottsdale Medicare: no | Time, labs and nutrition. Names "mild to moderate dementia." | 480-451-6161 |
| Sonoran University teaching clinic (NMD) Tempe or video Medicare: no | Sees dementia | 480-970-0000 |
- Naturopathic doctors (NMD) in Arizona can diagnose, order labs and prescribe, but not antipsychotics (ARS 32-1501). Medicare pays nothing for their visits or labs: use them alongside a Medicare doctor.
- Barrow: Medicare Advantage needs a referral. Some doctors take drug-company payments (check Open Payments).
- ReCODE, functional and integrative doctors near Phoenix: the doctors list. Most are built for early stages; ask on the first call.
Near Payson
- No memory clinic, geriatrician or house-call doctor turned up in Payson, Star Valley or Pine. (Use video visits plus local primary care.)
- Care-plan visit locally: Banner Health Clinic Payson, 928-596-4500.
- Area Agency on Aging: Central Arizona Aging, 800-293-9393.
The first-call questions
- "Do you take moderate or severe dementia?"
- "Will you review every medicine and order any missing labs?"
- "Who do we call between visits, and how fast do you answer?"
- "What will you try first, and how will we know in 4 weeks?"
- "Do you take our Medicare plan? If not, what does a visit cost?"
Our biases, out loud: we favor Medicare's rules and practices that publish what they do. The AI assistant that helped research this leans toward establishment sources.
Checked 14 October 2026: licences, Medicare status, each practice's pages. Sources.