Background: Many self-attending patients make inappropriate use of accident and emergency departments.
Aim: To determine whether a new care method consisting of the involvement of a GP during the day with the staff of the accident and emergency department of an academic city hospital and application of the Nederlands Triage System by a practice nurse is more effective than usual care.
Design: Before and after intervention design.
Setting: Accident and emergency department in the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.
Method: Participants were patients (n = 1527) attending the accident and emergency department without a referral, on weekdays from 10.00-17.00 hours, from 1 November 2006 to 30 April 2007. The intervention consisted of a new care method that combined the involvement of a GP in the accident and emergency department and allocation of patients by triage to either the GP or the accident and emergency department physician. Main outcome measures were patient satisfaction, number and type of additional examinations, quality of diagnosis, process time, and treatment time.
Results: Patient satisfaction with the treatment increased significantly. Compared to the usual care method, this new care method resulted in a 13% decrease in additional examinations. The percentage of incorrect diagnoses (1 %), as a measure of quality of care, was similar with the two methods. The mean process time decreased from 93 to 69 minutes (P<0.001). The mean treatment time decreased from 60 to 35 minutes (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The new care method resulted in greater patient satisfaction and maintained the quality of care, with fewer additional examinations. It reduced both the process time and the treatment time.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2944947 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3399/bjgp10X532369 | DOI Listing |
Int J Emerg Med
January 2025
Department of General Practice and Emergency Medicine, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchowk, Nepal.
Background: Timely emergency medical services (EMS) are particularly important among trauma patients, as inefficient EMS systems can result in potentially avoidable death before reaching a hospital. The Dhulikhel Hospital Dispatch Center coordinates and monitors a growing network of ambulances, including seven Type B ambulances staffed with a trained prehospital care provider and medical equipment. This study evaluates the prehospital care and outcomes of trauma patients transported by Type B ambulances to Dhulikhel Hospital's Emergency Department, as monitored by the Dispatch Center.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Mil Health
January 2025
Academic Department of Military Emergency Medicine, Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham, UK.
BMJ Mil Health
January 2025
Emergency Medicine, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Washington, USA.
Mar Pollut Bull
January 2025
Ocean Environment Institute, Oceanic Consulting and Trading, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
This study simulated the dispersion of Cs in the North Pacific using a Lagrangian particle model, incorporating basin-wide atmospheric deposition and direct release from the Fukushima accident. Three experiments examined the impact of vertical diffusion and velocity on dispersion behavior. EXP01 and EXP02 assumed zero vertical velocity with different vertical diffusion coefficients (1 × 10 and 2 × 10 m/s, respectively), while EXP03 used a 3-day average vertical velocity and the same diffusion coefficient as EXP01.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Surg Case Rep
January 2025
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Naha City Hospital, Okinawa, Japan.
Introduction: Although abdominal organ damage due to motor vehicle accident is often evident immediately after the injury and urgent operation is performed, it has been reported that minor injuries such as hollow viscus may become apparent during the course of treatment and require urgent surgery.
Case Report: The Authors present the case of a 42-year-old female who developed peritonitis immediately after undergoing surgery for thoracolumbar fracture-dislocation caused by a traffic accident. The patient exhibited no abdominal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, or abdominal wall rigidity, and had no difficulty with oral intake preoperatively.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!