Moving from specialist-led to generalist-led hospital care: propensity-matched analyses of clinical outcomes and survey of patient care experiences

In this study, we aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of patients who received care under a new generalist-led hospital care model — the Integrated General Hospital (IGH) — with those receiving care under the usual specialist-led hospital model, and to examine patients’ care experiences of the IGH model. A retrospective propensity-matched analysis comparing attendees of IGH (n = 2,127) and usual care attendees at a different hospital (n = 2,127) was conducted between 1 January 2019 and 31 August 2019. Clinical outcomes included length of stay, 30-day readmission, inpatient mortality and mortality within 30 days of discharge. In addition, a patient survey on IGH care experiences (n = 270) was conducted between 7 October 2019 and 12 April 2021. A two-sample t-test or chi-square test was used to compare the matched samples. For time-to-event variables, a Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the hazard ratio with 95% confidence intervals. After propensity-matching, statistically significant differences were found between the IGH and usual care groups for length of stay (P = 0.003), inpatient mortality (P = 0.007) and mortality within 30 days of discharge (P = 0.014), but not for 30 day readmission (P = 0.456). The hazard ratio for 30-day readmission was 0.94 (P = 0.46) and for mortality within 30 days of discharge was 0.51 (P = 0.01). Survey responses on IGH care found the care experiences were generally positive, particularly in terms of provider–patient communication and perceived staff teamwork. Initial analysis of the IGH model was associated with better clinical outcomes in some respects compared with the usual care model. Patient care experiences of IGH were also favourable. An ongoing prospective study will explore the longer-term clinical impact of the IGH care model, including the effect on postdischarge care and care continuity.