The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of outpatient elderly care based on Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). Eleven hospital Geriatric Evaluation and Management units (GEMs) systematically screened 1386 inpatients over a 10-month period, using the same uniform selection plan which included 15 programmed exclusion-inclusion criteria and a standard CGA. At the end of this screening, 152 eligible frail elderly patients were randomized to either a comprehensive outpatient GEMs program (intervention group: n = 79) or to usual care by their family doctors (control group: n = 73). We did not find any statistically significant difference between the two groups at entry. During the one-year follow-up period, 6 GEMs patients (7.6%) and 12 controls (17.1%) died, without significant differences between the two survival curves. Only three patients (all controls) ultimately dropped out, and eight (3 unit patients and 5 controls) entered a nursing home. GEMs patients were significantly more likely to have individual improvement in mental status (p = 0.006), morale (p = 0.024) and functional level (p = 0.023), compared to controls. Even though intervention participants spent fewer days in hospital and nursing home (p < 0.05), they received much more home care and day-hospital assistance (p < 0.001), which explains why total expenditure on health care was the same in the two groups. We conclude that: (1) a standardized selection plan may contribute to identify the older inpatients in need of CGA; and (2) CGA-based outpatient care may be clinical- and cost-effective if directly managed by GEMs, and may provide targeted older patients with more substantial benefits than standard care, without inflating health care expenses.

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