title: Coordinated care versus standard care in hospital admissions of people with chronic illness: a randomised controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether Care Navigation (CN), a nurse-led hospital-based coordinated care intervention, reduced the use of hospital services and improved quality of life for patients with chronic illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomised controlled trial; participants were allocated to CN or standard care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with chronic illness presenting to the emergency department of Nepean Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales. High-risk status for an unplanned admission was defined as i) three or more unplanned hospital admissions in 12 months for patients aged ≥ 70 or at least one admission for cardiac or respiratory disease in patients aged 16-69 years; or ii) judged by a CN nurse to be high risk and likely to benefit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Numbers of re-presentations or readmissions, quality of life, time to re-presentation, readmission or death, length of stay, and access to hospital and community health services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  500 participants were randomised between May 2010 and February 2011; 359 by previous unplanned admission and 141 by clinical impression. The CN group received more community health services (rate ratio, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.35-2.81; P < 0.001) than participants receiving standard care; however, this did not result in statistically significant differences in number of re-presentations (rate ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.68-1.01; P = 0.07), number of readmissions (rate ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.70-1.04; P = 0.11), quality of life at 24 months (mean difference, 0; 95% CI, - 0.10 to 0.09, P = 0.93), or other measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CN did not improve quality of life or reduce unplanned hospital presentations or admissions despite community health services almost doubling. Future service development should explore potential benefits of linking navigated intrahospital care to ongoing, proactive care planning and delivery in the community.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ACTRN12609000554268.
authors.affiliation: Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia. natalie.plant@health.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: Natalie A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Plant
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Leeder
authors.affiliation: Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kylie-Ann
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Mallitt
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Usherwood
authors.affiliation: The George Institute for International Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Boyages
authors.affiliation: Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Beverley M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Essue
authors.affiliation: Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McNab
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gillespie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062526:Patient Navigation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D055815:Young Adult