The Impact of a Geriatric Multidisciplinary Team in the Emergency Department

NCT07558031 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2025-1139
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 1,012
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The care of geriatric patients frequently involves members of the multidisciplinary care team, including both primary medical staff and allied health professionals. Often, members of the multidisciplinary care team are mobilized after geriatric patients have presented to the emergency department and have been seen by a doctor. Mobilizing these resources sequentially in inefficient and can lead to delays in geriatric patients receiving holistic care early following their presentation to the emergency department. The goal of this observational study is to assess the impact of having a geriatric-focused multidisciplinary team (Geri-MDT) dedicated to the emergency department that can be mobilized easily and in parallel at the time of presentation. The main questions we hope to answer in this study are:

• Does the Geri-MDT increase care efficiency by reducing the amount of time patients spend in the ED?
• Does the Geri-MDT decrease the proportion of patients that are ultimately admitted to the hospital?
• When patients are admitted, does the Geri-MDT reduce the length of stay in hospital?

Conditions

Admission to GIM; Length of Stay; Emergency Geriatric Care; Geriatric Health

Keywords

emergency department; multidisciplinary team; early intervention; hospital-associated disability

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Admission rate

  The proportion of geriatric patients that present to the emergency department that are admitted as inpatient to the hospital.

  From enrolment to the end of the study period, up to 1 year.

• Time in emergency department

  The length of time, in hours, Geriatric patients spend in the emergency department.

  From enrolment to the end of the study period, up to 1 year.

• Length of hospitalization

  The length of time, in days, that patients spend in the hospital if admitted.

  From enrolment to the end of the study period, up to 1 year.

• Return to emergency department

  The rate of patients returning to the emergency department following discharge.

  Quantified as either representing to the emergency department within 7- or 30-days following discharge.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Mobilization of geriatric multidisciplinary team members

  From enrolment to the end of the study period, up to 1 year.

Study Arms (2)

Pre-implementation

Standard of care before the implementation of the Geri-MDT

Post-implementation

After the implementation of the Geri-MDT

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population is comprised of patients 65 years or older who present to the emergency department at St. Mary's hospital in Montreal and meet the inclusion criteria as described above.

You may qualify if:

• evaluation by at least one allied health professional, including a geriatric nurse, geriatrician, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, or social worker;
• age 65 years or older; and
• availability of the medical record in the hospital's electronic medical record (EMR) system.

You may not qualify if:

• (1) data not available in the EMR.
• In the post-implementation period, patients were flagged for Geri-MDT assessment if they met any of the following criteria:
• age over 85 years,
• a score of ≥4 on the Program of Research to Integrate the Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy 7 (PRISMA-7) frailty screening tool, or
• an ED presentation related to a geriatric syndrome (e.g., fall, delirium, dementia, urinary incontinence, functional decline, or elder abuse).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• St. Mary's Research Center, Canada: lead

Study Sites (1)

St. Mary's Hospital Center

Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1M5, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Emergencies

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Supervisor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2025
• First Posted: April 30, 2026
• Study Start: January 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2024
• Study Completion: July 1, 2024
• Last Updated: April 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)