[Comparative study of ambulatory care activities: the visit and the care event]. / Estudio comparado de la actividad asistencial ambulatoria: la visita y el episodio de atención.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a comparative descriptive study of the healthcare activity of an outpatient clinic specialising in "Hearts and Lungs". Unit of analysis: care event. A procedure to construct the events was worked out. DESIGN: A prospective study of the care activity over a year, with a retrospective review at two years to construct the events. SETTING: Torreforta-La Granja Primary Care Centre, Tarragona. PARTICIPANTS: Included 1,312 patients (catchment area of 37,266 people), who consulted the doctor. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 3,467 attendances were recorded, of which 3,207 were selected, with 1,477 care events being identified on the basis of the information collected from the attendances. Daily average attendances were 13.09 +/- 3.5, by mainly male (56.3%) patients aged 53 +/- 20. Analysis by events showed a low number of visits, with an intensive use of the health resources available in the centre and low use of more complex resources. There was a low use of medical processes per event, with a high level of coverage or extent of these investigations. Hospital contacts per event identified an important amount of complementary activity concerning the emergency services and outclinics. CONCLUSIONS: The comparative analysis makes clear that the records based on attendance over-represent long events and undervalue the extent of investigations.

[The typology of outpatient visits based on correspondence analysis]. / Tipologia de visites ambulatòries a partir de l'anàlisi de correspondències.

The present work consists on a survey to evaluate the medical resources utilized in a cardiology and respiratory specialized consulting room. Given the heterogeneous patterns of the registered variables, a correspondence factor analysis has been applied, demonstrating its descriptive and explicative adequacy in the processing of this kind of data. Once the resources utilized have been identified, they have been related to the more frequently used variables in the studies to evaluate the ambulatory medical care according to a behavioural model. Results show that 68% of the variability associated with the use of medical assistance can be satisfactorily explained. From the base of the factorial coordinates a classification of the visits has been made and seven partitions or typologies of the same have been established. The variables concerning the resources use, the conditions leading to consultation and the continuity of medical attention are the ones best characterize the partition done.