Interventions in long term care facilities to improve the efficiency of the nursing and health care system

Haus der Barmherzigkeit

Vienna Hospital Association

Geriatric Health Centres Graz

The rise in the population in need of long term care that comes along with the ageing of the society poses a number of challenges to the Austrian care and health systems. Due to the ambition to provide best possible nursing and medical care with limited means, different forms of providing these services have to be evaluated for their economical efficiency.
This study conducted a literature search in relevant databases to identify efficiency-relevant analyses of nursing homes. Full economic evaluations turned out to be very rare. Because of problems of measuring and pricing costs and benefits, indicators such as hospitalisations are used in efficiency evaluations.
Efforts to improve the efficiency of medical care of nursing home residents basically aim for two mechanisms. Firstly, an improved (quality of) primary care can prevent the emergence of medical conditions that require hospitalizations. Secondly, even if a medical condition emerged, care could be managed in the care home instead of the hospitals if resources are sufficient.
Accordingly, interventions to improve efficiency raise nursing homes’ resources to provide primary and specialised care and improve the collaboration of medical services in the nursing home. Successful interventions combine several measures and consider the specific situation of the particular institution.