Non-urgent Emergencies
Conditions
Brief summary
EPICS-8: Reasons for Emergency Department utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions: Emergency Departments (EDs) are an important interface between primary and secondary health care sectors in Germany. The number of outpatient visits in the ED´s is still increasing. The reasons for ED utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions are nearly unknown in Germany and will be investigated in this project.
Detailed description
EPICS-8: Reasons for Emergency Department utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions: Emergency Departments (EDs) are an important interface between primary and the secondary health care system in Germany. The number of outpatient visits in the ED´s is still increasing. The reasons for ED utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions are nearly unknown in Germany and will be explored in this project. EPICS-8 is a pilot study to establish a research structure for the linkage of ED-data with data of the primary health care sector. Data linkage will be conducted for patients with the Manchester Triage System categories blue, green and yellow. A secondary aim of the EPICS-8 study is to develop a valid questionnaire for the assessment of reasons for ED utilization by non-urgent patients. Primary objective: Establishing of a research structure for the linkage of inhospital-data with data from the primary health care System. Records of 5,000 patients who attended one of the two EDs at the Charité University Medicine Berlin will be linked to Primary health care data. Secondary objectives: 1. Development and testing of a questionaire for the identification of reasons for emergency department utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions (n=100) 2. Characterization and quantification of non-urgent emergencies 3. Explorative analysis of patient pathways and influencing factors for ED-visits with non-urgent conditions.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Zentralinstitut für die Kassenärztliche Versorgung in Deutschland
Charite University, Berlin, Germany
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 115 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Eligibility criteria for record linkage: * Age\>= 18 years * Outpatients * MTS-Triage category blue, green or yellow * Treatment in one of the two participating EDs Eligibility criteria for questionnaire pretest: Inclusion Criteria: * Age\>= 18 years * Outpatients * MTS-Triage category blue, green or yellow * Treatment in one of the two participating EDs * Eligibility to understand the study purposes and give written informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Dementia * no sufficient German language skills * patients with legal representatives
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of patients with linkable records | 05/2016 - 05/2018 | The Primary outcome will be the proportion of patients with successful record linkage. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Valid Questionnaire | 05/2016 - 05/2017 | A patients questionnaire for the assessment of Emergency Department utilization by non-urgent patients will be developed. The outcome of this work package will be a valid patient questionnaire. |
| Demographic characteristics of non-urgent ED patients | During the study period | Descriptive analysis of demographic characteristics of ED patients with non-urgent conditions |
| Clinical characteristics of non-urgent ED patients | During the study period | Descriptive analysis of clinical characteristics of ED patients with non-urgent conditions |
| Patient pathways for ED-Visits | 10/2017 - 05/2018 | Explorative analysis of patient pathways for ED-visits with non-urgent conditions |
| Influencing factors for ED-Visits | 10/2017 - 05/2018 | Explorative analysis of influencing factors for ED-visits with non-urgent conditions |
Countries
Germany
Contacts
Primary ContactMartin Möckel, MD
Backup ContactJohann Frick, M A
Outcome results
None listed