The Effect of Primary Care Management on Lipids Testing and LDL-C Control of Elderly Patients With Comorbidities

Abstract

This study suggests that physician-nurse case management team care has the potential to augment the effectiveness of primary care by increasing adherence to testing protocols among elderly patients with multiple chronic illnesses, but this effect diminishes over time as guidelines are adopted into general practice. It suggests that LDL-C therapeutic control can be improved through increased lipids testing and the use of lipid-lowering medications. The results also indicate that care management strategies targeting more intensive patients versus less intensive patients are cost-effective strategies that can be expanded beyond lipids testing and control to other clinical health status measures.