[Project geriatric outpatient clinic. A study on geriatric outpatient clinics and patient basis]

In 1996 PROJECT: geriatric outpatient clinic was initiated by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The purpose was to collect more extensive information about geriatric outpatient clinics in Norway with regard to organization of the clinics, the types of activities and the clinics and the patients attending them. Information on the activities in 1995 was collected, and a summary prepared. Detailed records were made of the activities at 15 geriatric outpatient clinics during March 1996: 288 initial contacts and 239 repeat contacts were recorded. Assessment for mental impairment and multimorbidity constituted 41% of the referrals. The average number og patients per opening hour was rather low: 0.7 (range 0.08-2.5). The pay-back for the hospital was low and there was little incentive to operate the clinics.