Family physicians' activities in nursing homes: the Minnesota experience

The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians surveyed its members to determine their nursing home activities. The response rate was 66 percent. Eighty-three percent of members who responded had made at least one nursing home visit in the previous month. Nearly one half (48.1 percent) of physicians not currently caring for nursing home patients would continue to treat their own patient if that person were admitted to a nursing home. As the number of years in medical practice increased, statistically significant increases occurred in (1) the percentage of a practice composed of geriatric patients, (2) the number of visits made to nursing home patients, and (3) the number of hours and days spent in nursing homes. Physicians caring for nursing home patients (1) live in smaller communities, (2) spend more days each week in the office, (3) are not residency trained, (4) are board certified, and (5) have a greater percentage of patients in the geriatric age group. Physician nonparticipation in nursing homes was due to (1) too few nursing home patients in the practice, (2) inconvenience, and (3) excessive paperwork.