Hospital-integrated general practice : a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments

Wang, Mathyas; Wild, Stefanie; Hilfiker, Gabriela; Chmiel, Corinne; Sidler, Patrick; Eichler, Klaus; Rosemann, Thomas; Senn, Oliver

doi:10.1111/jep.12074

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Hospital-integrated general practice : a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments
Authors:	Wang, Mathyas Wild, Stefanie Hilfiker, Gabriela Chmiel, Corinne Sidler, Patrick Eichler, Klaus Rosemann, Thomas Senn, Oliver
DOI:	10.1111/jep.12074
Published in:	Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
Volume(Issue):	20
Issue:	1
Page(s):	20
Pages to:	26
Issue Date:	2013
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Wiley
ISSN:	1356-1294 1365-2753
Language:	English
Subjects:	Emergency care; Out-of-hours care; Primary care; Self-referral; Walk-in patient; Ambulatory care; Hospital emergency service; General practice; Time factor; Triage; Systems integration
Subject (DDC):	362.11: Hospitals and related institutions
Abstract:	Rationale, aims and objectives: The inappropriate use and overcrowding of emergency departments (EDs) by walk‐in patients are well‐known problems in many countries. The current study aimed to determine whether ambulatory walk‐in patients could be treated more efficiently in a new hospital‐integrated general practice (HGP) for emergency care services compared to a traditional ED. Methods: We conducted a pre‐post comparison before and after the implementation of a new HGP. Participants were walk‐in patients attending the ED of a city hospital in Zurich. Main outcome measures were differences in total process time, time intervals between stages of care and diagnostic resources used. Results: The median process time from admission to discharge was 120 minutes in the ED [interquartile range (IQR): 80–165] versus 60 minutes in the HGP (IQR: 40-90) (P < 0.001). The adjusted odds ratio of receiving any additional diagnostics was 1.86 (95% confidence interval 1.06-3.27; P = 0.032) for ED doctors versus general practitioners (GPs) when controlling for patients' age, sex and injury‐related medical problems. Conclusion: The HGP is an efficient way to manage walk‐in patients with regard to process time and utilization of additional diagnostic resources. The involvement of GPs in the HGPs should be considered as a promising model to overcome the inappropriate use of resources in EDs for walk‐in patients who can be treated by ambulatory care.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/12716
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit:	Winterthur Institute of Health Economics (WIG)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Management and Law

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Wang, M., Wild, S., Hilfiker, G., Chmiel, C., Sidler, P., Eichler, K., Rosemann, T., & Senn, O. (2013). Hospital-integrated general practice : a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 20(1), 20–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.12074

Wang, M. et al. (2013) ‘Hospital-integrated general practice : a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments’, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 20(1), pp. 20–26. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.12074.

M. Wang et al., “Hospital-integrated general practice : a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments,” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 20–26, 2013, doi: 10.1111/jep.12074.

WANG, Mathyas, Stefanie WILD, Gabriela HILFIKER, Corinne CHMIEL, Patrick SIDLER, Klaus EICHLER, Thomas ROSEMANN und Oliver SENN, 2013. Hospital-integrated general practice : a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 2013. Bd. 20, Nr. 1, S. 20–26. DOI 10.1111/jep.12074

Wang, Mathyas, Stefanie Wild, Gabriela Hilfiker, Corinne Chmiel, Patrick Sidler, Klaus Eichler, Thomas Rosemann, and Oliver Senn. 2013. “Hospital-Integrated General Practice : A Promising Way to Manage Walk-in Patients in Emergency Departments.” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 20 (1): 20–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.12074.

Wang, Mathyas, et al. “Hospital-Integrated General Practice : A Promising Way to Manage Walk-in Patients in Emergency Departments.” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, vol. 20, no. 1, 2013, pp. 20–26, https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.12074.