Deficits in quality, a lack of professional process management and, most importantly, neglect of outcome quality are criticized in long-term care. A cluster randomized, controlled trial was conducted to assess whether the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) can help to improve or stabilize functional abilities (ADL, IADL) and cognitive skills (MMST), improve quality of life (EQ-5D), and reduce institutionalization, thereby, increasing outcome quality. A total of 69 home care services throughout Germany were included and randomized. The treatment group (n = 36) received training in RAI and was supported by the research team during the study (13 months). Comparison of mean differences between the treatment and control groups (n = 33) showed no significant effect. Although the multilevel regression results show that clients in the treatment group fared better in terms of ADLs and IADLs (smaller decline) and were less likely to move to nursing homes and be hospitalized, none of these effects is significant. The lack of significance might result from the small number of clients included in the study. Moreover, RAI was not fully implemented and even partial implementation required more time than expected.

A cluster randomized controlled trial showed that the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) could not improve or stabilize the health status of people in need of long-term care or reduce the rate of institutionalization in Germany among clients of home care agencies. The aim of this article is to investigate whether the effect of RAI depends on the degree of implementation. A factor analysis was used to distinguish between those agencies that implemented RAI intensively and those that did not. The clients of home care agencies working intensively with RAI were significantly less hospitalized (P = 0.0284) and fared slightly better according to activities of daily living (ADL, instrumental ADL (IADL)), cognitive skills (Mini-Mental Status Test (MMST)) and quality of life (EuroQol (EQ-5D)) compared with the control group. In contrast, those not working intensively with RAI had worse outcomes (IADL, MMST, EQ-5D) than the control group (not significant). It is important to guarantee a successful implementation of RAI.

The success or failure of the implementation of an outcome-oriented control instrument is determined by professional, organizational restrictions. The results show that a better implementation leads to better outcomes for clients.

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The lack of significance might be due to the fact that RAI was not fully implemented and even the partial implementation lasted much longer than expected. Moreover, the number of clients included in the study was smaller than originally planned.