GP medical services to residential aged care patients different to other older patients

General practitioner (GP) consultations in nursing homes differ considerably from those managed at all general practice encounters in Australia, according to a report in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Nursing home consultations commonly involve management of chronic conditions, including some that are not frequently seen at everyday general practice encounters, such as dementia, stroke, heart failure and osteoarthritis.

Dementia is the problem most frequently managed by GPs in nursing homes in Australia, at a rate much higher than in everyday general practice and has an enormous impact on the workload of GPs in this setting.

Other chronic conditions with high relative management rates included epilepsy, schizophrenia and Parkinsonism.

Higher management rates of urinary tract infections, conjunctivitis and skin ulcers in nursing homes illustrate the attention that must be paid to patients’ overall health, given the frailty of patients in this institutional setting.

The researchers speculated that the recently announced increase in Medicare Benefits Schedule remuneration for residential aged care facility attendances may also encourage more GPs to manage patients in this setting.