• Lijun Fan, Xiang-Yu Hou, Jingzhou Zhao, Jiandong Sun, Kaeleen Dingle, Rhonda Purtill, Sam Tapp, and Bill Lukin.
• School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, QLD, 4059, Australia. keirafanlj@gmail.com.
• Bmc Health Serv Res. 2016 Feb 9; 16: 46.

BackgroundThere has been considerable publicity regarding population ageing and hospital emergency department (ED) overcrowding. Our study aims to investigate impact of one intervention piloted in Queensland Australia, the Hospital in the Nursing Home (HiNH) program, on reducing ED and hospital attendances from residential aged care facilities (RACFs).MethodsA quasi-experimental study was conducted at an intervention hospital undertaking the program and a control hospital with normal practice. Routine Queensland health information system data were extracted for analysis.ResultsSignificant reductions in the number of ED presentations per 1000 RACF beds (rate ratio (95 % CI): 0.78 (0.67-0.92); p = 0.002), number of hospital admissions per 1000 RACF beds (0.62 (0.50-0.76); p < 0.0001), and number of hospital admissions per 100 ED presentations (0.61 (0.43-0.85); p = 0.004) were noticed in the experimental hospital after the intervention; while there were no significant differences between intervention and control hospitals before the intervention. Pre-test and post-test comparison in the intervention hospital also presented significant decreases in ED presentation rate (0.75 (0.65-0.86); p < 0.0001) and hospital admission rate per RACF bed (0.66 (0.54-0.79); p < 0.0001), and a non-significant reduction in hospital admission rate per ED presentation (0.82 (0.61-1.11); p = 0.196).ConclusionsHospital in the Nursing Home program could be effective in reducing ED presentations and hospital admissions from RACF residents. Implementation of the program across a variety of settings is preferred to fully assess the ongoing benefits for patients and any possible cost-savings.

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