The effect of having a care home physician on the care home residents' rate of contacts with primary care physicians and hospitals: a retrospective register-based study.

purposeCare home residents often suffer from several morbidities, including dementia, and are prone to acute hospital admissions. Attempts to reduce avoidable hospitalisations from care homes are diverse, but they can include a strengthened collaboration between care home facilities and primary care physicians (PCPs). We aim to investigate whether residents of care homes with and without a care home physician have different contact patterns with PCPs, out-of-hours service, and hospitals.

methodsRetrospective register-based study combined data from the Danish national health registries with information from a telephone interview, obtaining information on the care homes' collaboration with local PCPs. Care homes were divided into two groups: Facilities with (n = 26) and without (n = 10) a care home physician in 2019. We used Quasi-Poisson regression to analyse whether residents of facilities with and without a care home physician had a similar pattern for contacts with PCPs, the out-of-hours service, and hospitals.

resultsResidents of facilities with a care home physician (n = 1,368) had more than twice as many home visits by the PCP and 37% fewer e-mail consultations when compared to residents of facilities with no care home physician (n = 500). They tended to have fewer contacts with the out-of-hours service, but this result was not significant. We found no differences in the use of hospital services.

conclusionWe saw an increased availability of PCPs in care homes with a care home physician and lower use of the out-of-hours service, but no impact on hospital admissions.