Randomized trial to reduce emergency visits or hospital admissions using telephone coaching to complex patients.

Background: Comorbidity remains a matter of international interest, given growing prevalence of chronic conditions.

Objective: To evaluate the impact that adding a telephone coaching intervention by a family physician to usual care has on reducing resource consumption and improving health status, caregiver burden and quality of life among complex chronic patients (CCP) compared with usual care.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on a random sample of CCP from three primary care teams in Barcelona.