A novel, nurse-led ‘one stop’ clinic for patients with liver cirrhosis results in fewer liver-related unplanned readmissions and improved survival

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Abstract Objective Delivering effective secondary preventive and integrated care has the potential to break the revolving-door phenomenon of frequent readmissions in patients with advanced chronic liver disease. To address this, we launched the Care Coordination of Liver Disease (CCoLD) pilot, a novel nurse-led cirrhosis clinic in Western Sydney. Methods and analysis Following an index presentation to Blacktown or Mount Druitt hospitals (BMDH), patients (n = 89, matched by age, sex, and MELD-NA) were consecutively either followed up by the CCoLD clinical nurse consultant (intervention cohort) or received standard care (control cohort). Controlled evaluation of the impact of the nurse-led clinic was carried out for a 3-month period including readmission rates, survival, and cost effectiveness. Results The inaugural nurse-led clinic led to improvement in patient-level outcomes including a reduction in unplanned liver-related readmissions (2.08% for intervention cohort vs 12.2% for control cohort, p