German trial protocol tests interprofessional outpatient care for older adults

A multicenter randomized controlled trial will evaluate whether a structured, interprofessional outpatient program can improve mobility and functional independence among 540 patients aged 70 and older in Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, Germany. The InATheGer protocol sets out a comparison between standard care and the Intensified Interprofessional Outpatient Therapy for Geriatric Patients model, with additional assessments of quality of life, medication use, healthcare utilization, costs and implementation. This is a study protocol describing planned methods; it does not report whether the program is effective or cost-effective.

Patients with multimorbidity and functional impairments will be recruited through three regional outpatient centers and assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either standard care or the InATheGer intervention. The intervention will take place over 14 weeks and comprise 20 therapy days. A trained care manager, called the “InA-Manager,” will coordinate multimodal sessions integrating medical, therapeutic and psychosocial support.

Assessments will occur at baseline before randomization and at 18 and 31 weeks after baseline. The primary outcome is improvement in mobility and functional independence at 18 weeks, measured with an adapted Functional Independence Measure. Secondary outcomes will include changes in quality of life assessed with the EQ-5D-5L, medication use, healthcare utilization and costs.

The study will combine a randomized clinical comparison with qualitative process evaluation and economic analysis. The process component is intended to examine implementation and contextual factors affecting delivery of the model, while the economic component will assess costs and resource use. The design therefore addresses three distinct questions: whether participant outcomes differ between the intervention and standard-care groups, how the program is implemented in practice, and what it costs.

The researchers plan to analyze whether any clinical benefits, if observed, are accompanied by favorable economic performance. A qualitative process evaluation will also explore organizational and contextual conditions that may influence the intervention’s operation. The trial focuses on a population for whom coordinated outpatient care may be especially important.

The study is intended to address that coordination problem through a model that combines different forms of support and assigns an identifiable care manager to organize the program. If InATheGer proves clinically effective and cost-effective, the researchers say the results could inform policy decisions and the development or scaling of coordinated interprofessional outpatient services. Because the article is a protocol, those benefits and wider implementation remain contingent on future trial findings.

The study is prospectively registered in the German Clinical Trials Register as DRKS00036229, with registration recorded on 8 April 2025.

Subject of Research: A randomized trial protocol evaluating interprofessional outpatient care for older adults with multimorbidity and functional impairments.

Article Title: A randomized controlled trial, process and economic evaluation, comparing multimodal care intervention to standard care for older adults in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany: study protocol of the intensified interprofessional outpatient therapy for geriatric patients (InATheGer) model

Article References: Dini, L., Ordonez-Cruickshank, A., Koppelow, M., Wollny, A., Richter, L., Daubmann, A., Suling, A., Pardey, N., Stapelfeldt, P. M., Meinhold, S., Kloth, A., Sarganas, G., van Munster, M., Zutz, S., Dannenberg, M., & Odonkor, S. N. N. T. (2026). A randomized controlled trial, process and economic evaluation, comparing multimodal care intervention to standard care for older adults in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany: study protocol of the intensified interprofessional outpatient therapy for geriatric patients (InATheGer) model. BMC Geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-08363-0

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DOI: 10.1186/s12877-026-08363-0

Keywords: geriatric care, multimorbidity, interprofessional care, randomized controlled trial, functional independence, mobility, quality of life, healthcare utilization, economic evaluation, outpatient care, randomized, controlled