Management of Nursing Home Residents Following Acute Hospitalization: Efficacy of the "Regular Early Assessment Post-Discharge (REAP)" Intervention.

OBJECTIVES

Rehospitalization of nursing home (NH) residents is frequent, costly, potentially avoidable and associated with diminished quality of life and poor survival. This study aims to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of the Regular Early Assessment Post-Discharge (REAP) protocol of coordinated specialist geriatrician and nurse practitioner visits on rates of rehospitalization, hospital length of stay, and emergency department presentations for NH residents recently discharged from hospital.

DESIGN

Prospective randomized controlled study of recently hospitalized NH residents.

SETTING

Twenty-one of 24 eligible NHs within the geographical catchment area of St George Hospital, a 650-bed university hospital in Sydney, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS

NH residents from eligible facilities admitted to St George Hospital's geriatric service were enrolled prior to hospital discharge.

INTERVENTION

REAP intervention of monthly coordinated specialist geriatrician and nurse practitioner assessments within participants' NHs for 6 months following hospital discharge.

MEASUREMENTS

Impact of the REAP intervention on hospital readmissions, hospital inpatient days, emergency department utilization, general practitioner visits, investigations and associated costs during the study intervention period.

RESULTS

Forty-three NH residents were randomly allocated to REAP intervention (n = 22) or control (n = 21) groups. The REAP intervention group had almost two-thirds fewer hospital readmissions (P = .03; Cohen's d = 0.73) and half as many emergency department visits than controls. Total costs were 50% lower in the REAP intervention group, with lower total hospital inpatient (P = .04; Cohen's d = 0.63) and total emergency department (P = .04; Cohen's d = 0.65) costs.

CONCLUSION

Cost-effective reductions in the utilization of hospital-related services were demonstrated following implementation of the REAP intervention for NH residents recently discharged from hospital.