A comparative effectiveness trial between a post-acute care hospitalist model and a community-based physician model of nursing home care.

Introduction: To evaluate whether a designated Post-Acute Care Hospitalist (PACH) (an individual physician charged with care of most residents in the nursing home and with set hours to be in the facility each week) could improve some measureable outcomes in the long-term care setting compared with a traditional cadre of community physicians, a comparative trial was designed to measure multiple cost and care variables.

Methods: Data were collected in a historical prospective study design for 6 months before the institution of a PACH model in a nursing home in the Baltimore area. Similar data were collected in a similar setting in the same region during the same time frame.