Managed primary care of nursing home residents.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the rates of hospital use and mortality of nursing homes residents who received their primary care from nurse practitioner-physician teams.

DESIGN: A cohort study.

SETTING: Thirty nursing homes in Southern California.

PATIENTS: Older, long-term residents of nursing homes enrolled in a Medicare HMO (n = 307).

INTERVENTION: Primary care by an accessible interdisciplinary team supported by clinical guidelines, continuous quality improvement techniques, and increased availability of clinical services at the nursing homes.

RESULTS: The residents (mean age 83.5 years, 69.0% women) had a high prevalence of dementia (83.5%) and functional disability (87.2% were dependent in two or more activities of daily living). About half (50.8%) expressed a preference for "no hospitalization and no resuscitation." Compared with other nursing homes populations, this cohort experienced a lower annual rate of hospital use (518 days/1000 residents) and a similar rate of mortality (23.8%).

CONCLUSIONS: Integration of the efforts of physicians, nurse practitioners, and nursing home staff can lead to low rates of hospital use by nursing home residents. The effects on residents' quality of life and mortality require further study.