The effect of a general practice after-hours clinic on emergency department presentations: a regression time series analysis.

Tytuł:: The effect of a general practice after-hours clinic on emergency department presentations: a regression time series analysis.
Autorzy:: Buckley DJ; Greater Southern Area Health Service, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia. />Curtis PW
McGirr JG
Źródło:: The Medical journal of Australia [Med J Aust] 2010 Apr 19; Vol. 192 (8), pp. 448-51.
Typ publikacji:: Evaluation Study; Journal Article
Język:: English
Imprint Name(s):: Publication: : Pyrmont, NSW : Australasian Medical Publishing Co.
Original Publication: Sydney : Australasian Medical Pub. Co.
MeSH Terms:: After-Hours Care/*statistics & numerical data
Emergency Service, Hospital/*statistics & numerical data
Family Practice/*statistics & numerical data
Triage/*statistics & numerical data
Chi-Square Distribution ; Health Services Accessibility/statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; New South Wales/epidemiology ; Outcome Assessment, Health Care ; Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data ; Regression Analysis ; Retrospective Studies
Entry Date(s):: Date Created: 20100421 Date Completed: 20100607 Latest Revision: 20201230
Update Code:: 20240104
DOI:: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03583.x
PMID:: 20402608
: Czasopismo naukowe

Full Text Finder

Objective: To assess the impact of the opening of an after-hours general practice clinic on the number of daily low-urgency presentations to the nearby emergency department.
Design, Participants and Setting: Retrospective time series analysis of emergency presentation data, from the New South Wales Health Emergency Department Information System, for all patients presenting to the emergency department of Wagga Wagga Base Hospital between January 1998 and October 2008.
Main Outcome Measures: Daily emergency department presentations, before and after the March 2003 opening of the after-hours clinic, of patients triaged as Australasian Triage Scale (ATS) category 4 or 5 (at any time of day, and during the hours of operation of the clinic), and of patients triaged as ATS category 1, 2 or 3 (at any time of day).
Results: After adjusting for long-term trends and weekly and annual cycles, the opening of the after-hours clinic was associated with a daily reduction of 7.04 patients (95% CI, 5.39-8.70) in emergency department presentations with an ATS category of 4 or 5. This represented an 8.2% reduction in total presentations (95% CI, 6.2%-10.2%). Presentations of ATS category 1, 2 or 3 patients rose by 1.36 patients a day (95% CI, 0.36-2.35), representing 1.6% of total presentations (95% CI, 0.4%-2.7%). The impact of the after-hours clinic was best modelled by a gradual permanent change.
Conclusion: An after-hours general practice clinic was associated with a reduction in low-urgency presentations to the emergency department in Wagga Wagga.

Comment in: Med J Aust. 2010 Apr 19;192(8):429-30. (PMID: 20402604)

Informacja