Geriatric assessment teams in nursing homes: do they work?

Several studies have examined the effectiveness of geriatric assessment teams in outpatient and acute care settings. This project compared medical records of 69 consecutive nursing home patients randomly assigned on arrival to team (n = 33) and nonteam (standard care, n = 36) conditions. Quality-of-care indices and healthcare service utilization were compared over a 12-month postadmission period. Team patients had a significantly greater number of diagnoses and ancillary services combined with nonsignificant trends toward decreased mortality, fewer emergency department visits, and fewer drugs prescribed. The team approach improves quality of care. Additional clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of geriatric assessment teams should be made in other nursing homes.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes