Descriptive analysis and evaluation of Health Link referrals to the emergency department before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Intern Emerg Med
; 19(4): 1129-1137, 2024 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38386095
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In Alberta, Health Link (HL) provides a 24-h, nurse-staffed, phone resource to the public for health-care advice. HL directs callers to either seek care in the emergency department (ED), with a primary care provider or provide self-care at home. This work aims to describe HL ED referrals prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
Data from January 1, 2018-December 31, 2019, and July 1, 2020-June 30, 2022, were selected. HL calls were categorized as likely appropriate if the patient was referred and presented to the ED within 24 h and had a Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) of 1-3; or a CTAS of 4-5 and the patient was admitted, specialist consulted, or diagnostic imaging or laboratory tests were completed. The primary outcome was the percentage of likely appropriate referrals among all HL ED referrals.RESULTS:
In the 2018-2019 and 2020-2022 samples, respectively, there were 845,372 and 832,730 calls. Of the 211,723 and 213,486 ED referrals, only 140,614 (66.4%) and 143,322 (67.1%) presented to an ED. Of these, 84.3 and 86.7 per 100 patient visits were categorized as likely appropriate referrals. Health Link referrals account for 3.2% and 3.8% of all ED visits. IMPACT HL referrals to the ED represent only a small percentage of all ED visits. Based on our definition, most referrals by HL are likely appropriate. The COVID-19 pandemic does not appear to have altered the rates of calls to HL, the number of HL calls referred to the ED, nor the likely appropriateness of those referrals.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Encaminhamento e Consulta
/
Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
/
COVID-19
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Intern Emerg Med
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA DE EMERGENCIA
/
MEDICINA INTERNA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá