[Is a tele-emergency physician system a sensible addition in rural German regions?-An analysis from a medical and economic perspective]. / Ist das Telenotarzt-System eine sinnvolle Ergänzung im ländlichen Raum? ­ Eine Analyse aus medizinischer und ökonomischer Perspektive.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In 2017, a tele-emergency-physician system was implemented in the county of Vorpommern-Greifswald (Germany) to optimise the prehospital emergency medical service and to counteract current challenges. It was evaluated from a medical and economic perspective whether a tele-emergency physician system is a useful addition to the existing prehospital emergency system, especially in rural regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Approximately 250,000 emergency medical service data from the years 2015 to 2020 (before and after the implementation of the telemedical system) were analysed in a pre-post comparison. A total of 3611 tele-emergency physician cases were analysed regarding medical indication and time-related factors. Additionally, total costs of the tele-emergency physician system as well as a cost analysis regarding prehospital and hospital medical costs of selected diseases were performed. RESULTS: The tele-emergency physician treated patients of all age groups with a wide spectrum of diseases. Of the cases, 48.2% were moderate to severe but not life-threatening disorders. Patients as well as emergency medical service personnel embraced the new system. According to the data, ambulances that were equipped with the telemedical system had the number of missions requiring an emergency physician on scene reduced significantly by 20%. The yearly costs of this telemedical system amount to €1.7 million. CONCLUSIONS: The tele-emergency physician system proved to be a telemedical innovation that is medically advisable, functional and cost-efficient. Therefore, the tele-emergency physician system continued to operate after the end of the research project and is ready to be implemented across Germany.

Optimizing home-based long-term intensive care for neurological patients with neurorehabilitation outreach teams - protocol of a multicenter, parallel-group randomized controlled trial (OptiNIV-Study).

BACKGROUND: Even with high standards of acute care and neurological early rehabilitation (NER) a substantial number of patients with neurological conditions still need mechanical ventilation and/or airway protection by tracheal cannulas when discharged and hence home-based specialised intensive care nursing (HSICN). It may be possible to improve the home care situation with structured specialized long-term neurorehabilitation support and following up patients with neurorehabilitation teams. Consequently, more people might recover over an extended period to a degree that they were no longer dependent on HSICN. METHODS: This healthcare project and clinical trial implements a new specialised neurorehabilitation outreach service for people being discharged from NER with the need for HSICN. The multicentre, open, parallel-group RCT compares the effects of one year post-discharge specialized outpatient follow-up to usual care in people receiving HSICN. Participants will randomly be assigned to receive the new form of healthcare (intervention) or the standard healthcare (control) on a 2:1 basis. Primary outcome is the rate of weaning from mechanical ventilation and/or decannulation (primary outcome) after one year, secondary outcomes include both clinical and economic measures. 173 participants are required to corroborate a difference of 30 vs. 10% weaning success rate statistically with 80% power at a 5% significance level allowing for 15% attrition. DISCUSSION: The OptiNIV-Study will implement a new specialised neurorehabilitation outreach service and will determine its weaning success rates, other clinical outcomes, and cost-effectiveness compared to usual care for people in need for mechanical ventilation and/or tracheal cannula and hence HSICN after discharge from NER. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial OptiNIV has been registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) since 18.01.2022 with the ID DRKS00027326 .

Evaluation of a Rural Emergency Medical Service Project in Germany: Protocol for a Multimethod and Multiperspective Longitudinal Analysis.

BACKGROUND: German emergency medical services are a 2-tiered system with paramedic-staffed ambulances as the primary response, supported by prehospital emergency doctors for life-threatening conditions. As in all European health care systems, German medical practitioners are in short supply, whereas the demand for timely emergency medical care is constantly growing. In rural areas, this has led to critical delays in the provision of emergency medical care. In particular, in cases of cardiac arrest, time is of the essence because, with each passing minute, the chance of survival with good neurological outcome decreases. OBJECTIVE: The project has 4 main objectives: (1) reduce the therapy-free interval through widespread reinforcement of resuscitation skills and motivating the public to provide help (ie, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation), (2) provide faster professional first aid in addition to rescue services through alerting trained first aiders by mobile phone, (3) make more emergency physicians available more quickly through introducing the tele-emergency physician system, and (4) enhance emergency care through improving the cooperation between statutory health insurance on-call medical services (German: Kassenärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst) and emergency medical services. METHODS: We will evaluate project implementation in a tripartite prospective and intervention study. First, in medical evaluation, we will assess the influences of various project measures on quality of care using multiple methods. Second, the economic evaluation will mainly focus on the valuation of inputs and outcomes of the different measures while considering various relevant indicators. Third, as part of the work and organizational analysis, we will assess important work- and occupational-related parameters, as well as network and regional indexes. RESULTS: We started the project in 2017 and will complete enrollment in 2020. We finished the preanalysis phase in September 2018. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, implementation of the project will entail realigning emergency medicine in rural areas and enhancing the quality of medical emergency care in the long term. We expect the project to lead to a measurable increase in medical laypersons' individual motivation to provide resuscitation, to strengthen resuscitation skills, and to result in medical laypersons providing first aid much more frequently. Furthermore, we intend the project to decrease the therapy-free interval in cases of cardiac arrest by dispatching first aiders via mobile phones. Previous projects in urban regions have shown that the tele-emergency physician system can provide a higher availability and quality of emergency call-outs in regular health care. We expect a closer interrelation of emergency practices of statutory health insurance physicians with the rescue service to lead to better coordination of rescue and on-call services. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/14358.