Task shifting from general practitioners to other health professionals in out-of-hours primary care - a systematic literature review on content and quality of task shifting.

BACKGROUND: Task shifting from general practitioners (GPs) to other health professionals could solve the increased workload, but an overview of the evidence is lacking for out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the content and quality of task shifting from GPs to other health professionals in clinic consultations and home visits in OOH-PC. METHODS: Four database literature searches were performed on 13 December 2021, and updated in August 2023. We included articles that studied content (patient characteristics, reason for encounter) and/or quality (patient satisfaction, safety, efficiency) of task shifting in face-to-face contacts at OOH-PC. Two authors independently screened articles for inclusion and assessed the methodological quality of included articles using the JBI critical appraisal checklist. Data was extracted and results were synthesised in a narrative summary. RESULTS: The search identified 1,829 articles, resulting in the final inclusion of seven articles conducted in the UK or the Netherlands. Studies compared GPs with other health professionals (mainly nurses). These other health professionals saw patients with less urgent health problems, younger patients, and patients with less complex health problems than GPs. Most studies concluded that other health professionals provided safe and vastly efficient care corresponding to the level of GPs but findings about productivity were inconclusive. CONCLUSION: The level of safety and efficiency of care provided by other health professionals in OOH-PC seems like that of GPs, although they mainly see patients presenting with less urgent and less complex health problems.

Task shifting from general practitioners to other health professionals could increase treatment capacity in out-of-hours primary care.Task shifting occurs for care to patients with less urgent and less complex health issues.The long-term implications of task shifting in out-of-hours primary care should be investigated.

Use of Video in Telephone Triage in Out-of-Hours Primary Care: Register-Based Study.

Background: Out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC) is challenging due to high workloads, workforce shortages, and long waiting and transportation times for patients. Use of video enables triage professionals to visually assess patients, potentially ending more contacts in a telephone triage contact instead of referring patients to more resource-demanding clinic consultations or home visits. Thus, video use may help reduce use of health care resources in OOH-PC. Objective: This study aimed to investigate video use in telephone triage contacts to OOH-PC in Denmark by studying rate of use and potential associations between video use and patient- and contact-related characteristics and between video use and triage outcomes and follow-up contacts. We hypothesized that video use could serve to reduce use of health care resources in OOH-PC. Methods: This register-based study included all telephone triage contacts to OOH-PC in 4 of the 5 Danish regions from March 15, 2020, to December 1, 2021. We linked data from the OOH-PC electronic registration systems to national registers and identified telephone triage contacts with video use (video contact) and without video use (telephone contact). Calculating crude incidence rate ratios and adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs), we investigated the association between patient- and contact-related characteristics and video contacts and measured the frequency of different triage outcomes and follow-up contacts after video contact compared to telephone contact. Results: Of 2,900,566 identified telephone triage contacts to OOH-PC, 9.5% (n=275,203) were conducted as video contacts. The frequency of video contact was unevenly distributed across patient- and contact-related characteristics; it was used more often for employed young patients without comorbidities who contacted OOH-PC more than 4 hours before the opening hours of daytime general practice. Compared to telephone contacts, notably more video contacts ended with advice and self-care (aIRR 1.21, 95% CI 1.21-1.21) and no follow-up contact (aIRR 1.08, 95% CI 1.08-1.09). Conclusions: This study supports our hypothesis that video contacts could reduce use of health care resources in OOH-PC. Video use lowered the frequency of referrals to a clinic consultation or a home visit and also lowered the frequency of follow-up contacts. However, the results could be biased due to confounding by indication, reflecting that triage GPs use video for a specific set of reasons for encounters.

Point-of-care testing and antibiotics prescribing in out-of-hours general practice: a register-based study in Denmark.

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care testing may reduce diagnostic uncertainty in case of suspicion of bacterial infection, thereby contributing to prudent antibiotic prescribing. We aimed to study variations in the use of point-of-care tests (C-reactive protein test, rapid streptococcal antigen detection test, and urine dipstick) among general practitioners (GPs) and the potential association between point-of-care testing and antibiotic prescribing in out-of-hours general practice. METHODS: We conducted a population-based observational register-based study, based on patient contacts with out-of-hours general practice in the Central Denmark Region in 2014-2017. The tendency of GPs to use point-of-care testing was calculated, and the association between the use of point-of-care testing and antibiotic prescribing was evaluated with the use of binomial regression. RESULTS: Out-of-hours general practice conducted 794,220 clinic consultations from 2014 to 2017, of which 16.1% resulted in an antibiotic prescription. The GP variation in the use of point-of-care testing was largest for C-reactive protein tests, with an observed variation (p90/p10 ratio) of 3.0; this means that the GPs in the 90th percentile used C-reactive protein tests three times as often as the GPs in the 10th percentile. The observed variation was 2.1 for rapid streptococcal antigen detection tests and 1.9 for urine dipsticks. The GPs who tended to use more point-of-care tests prescribed significantly more antibiotics than the GPs who tended to use fewer point-of-care tests. The GPs in the upper quintile of the tendency to use C-reactive protein test prescribed 22% more antibiotics than the GPs in the lowest quintile (21% for rapid streptococcal antigen detection tests and 8% for urine dipsticks). Up through the quintiles, this effect exhibited a positive linear dose-response correlation. CONCLUSION: The GPs varied in use of point-of-care testing. The GPs who tended to perform more point-of-care testing prescribed more antibiotics compared with the GPs who tended to perform fewer of these tests.

Factors associated with undertriage and overtriage in telephone triage in Danish out-of-hours primary care: a natural quasi-experimental cross-sectional study of randomly selected and high-risk calls.

OBJECTIVES: We aim to explore undertriage and overtriage in a high-risk patient population and explore patient characteristics and call characteristics associated with undertriage and overtriage in both randomly selected and in high-risk telephone calls to out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC). DESIGN: Natural quasi-experimental cross-sectional study. SETTING: Two Danish OOH-PC services using different telephone triage models: a general practitioner cooperative with GP-led triage and the medical helpline 1813 with computerised decision support system-guided nurse-led triage. PARTICIPANTS: We included audio-recorded telephone triage calls from 2016: 806 random calls and 405 high-risk calls (defined as patients ≥30 years calling with abdominal pain). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Twenty-four experienced physicians used a validated assessment tool to assess the accuracy of triage. We calculated the relative risk (RR) for clinically relevant undertriage and overtriage for a range of patient characteristics and call characteristics. RESULTS: We included 806 randomly selected calls (44 clinically relevant undertriaged and 54 clinically relevant overtriaged) and 405 high-risk calls (32 undertriaged and 24 overtriaged). In high-risk calls, nurse-led triage was associated with significantly less undertriage (RR: 0.47, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.97) and more overtriage (RR: 3.93, 95% CI 1.50 to 10.33) compared with GP-led triage. In high-risk calls, the risk of undertriage was significantly higher for calls during nighttime (RR: 2.1, 95% CI 1.05 to 4.07). Undertriage tended to be more likely for calls concerning patients ≥60 years compared with 30-59 years (11.3% vs 6.3%) in high-risk calls. However, this result was not significant. CONCLUSION: Nurse-led triage was associated with less undertriage and more overtriage compared with GP-led triage in high-risk calls. This study may suggest that to minimise undertriage, the triage professionals should pay extra attention when a call occurs during nighttime or concerns elderly. However, this needs confirmation in future studies.

Interprofessional team-based collaboration between designated GPs and care home staff: a qualitative study in an urban Danish setting.

BACKGROUND: Being a general practitioner for residents in many care homes may challenge communication with residents, relatives, and care home staff, and potentially lead to lower quality of care. Several countries have therefore introduced different solutions to reduce the number of general practitioners at each care home. In 2017, the designated general practitioner model was introduced at many Danish care homes. This study aimed to evaluate experiences from the interprofessional team-based collaboration between designated general practitioners and care home staff with regular contact with the designated general practitioners in an urban Danish setting. METHODS: A qualitative design was applied using semi-structured interviews. Eight interviews (three group interviews and five individual interviews) were conducted with four designated general practitioners and seven care home staff members at four care homes in an urban setting of Central Denmark Region, Denmark. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data were analysed using content analysis with inspiration from the theory of relational coordination. The study followed the guidelines addressed in the COREQ (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research) framework. RESULTS: The initiation of the designated general practitioner model was experienced to contribute to more clear, precise, and timely communication between care homes and the general practitioner. An improved mutual acknowledgement of roles and competencies was experienced between designated general practitioners, care home nurses, and sometimes also social and health care assistants. The more frequent visits by the general practitioners at the care homes, as a result of the designated general practitioner model, resulted in more face-to-face communication between care home staff and designated general practitioners. Professional differences in the interpretation of the patient's needs were still present, which at times caused a frustrating compromise of own professional competencies. An important reason for the overall perception of improved collaboration was attributed to the more frequent dialogue in which the care homes staff and the designated general practitioners exchanged knowledge that could be applied in future patient encounters. CONCLUSION: The designated general practitioner model implied an improved collaboration between general practitioners and care homes staff. Clear, precise, and timely communication between care homes and the general practitioners, as well as mutual trust and acknowledgement was experienced to be essential for the collaboration. An important reason for the overall perception of an improved collaboration was attributed to the more frequent dialogue (more frequent general practitioner visits at the care homes) in which the care homes staff and the designated general practitioners exchange knowledge which again could be applied in future patient encounters.

Contacts in general practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: a register-based study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the provision of health care and expanded telehealth consultations. AIM: To study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on contact patterns in general practice, and to identify patient groups at risk of losing care. DESIGN AND SETTING: Register-based study of Danish general practice, including daytime and out-of-hours (OOH) services. METHOD: All individuals residing in Denmark from 1 January 2017 to 31 October 2020 were included. The incidence rate for six contact types in general practice and adjusted incidence rate ratio were calculated by comparing the incidence rate in the pandemic period with the adjusted expected incidence rate based on the incidence rate in the pre-pandemic period. RESULTS: The number of face-to-face in-clinic consultations declined during the lockdown in March 2020. A subsequent increase in the number of clinic consultations was observed, rising to a level above that of the pre-pandemic period; this increase resulted mainly from the introduction of telehealth consultations (that is, video and extended telephone). The number of daytime email consultations increased, whereas the number of daytime home visits decreased. Likewise, the number of OOH telephone consultations increased, whereas the number of OOH home visits and clinic consultations decreased. Consultation rates of patients who are vulnerable, that is, those with low education, old age, and comorbidity, were most adversely affected by the pandemic. The most adverse impact in OOH clinic consultations was seen for children aged 0-9 years. CONCLUSION: New methods are called for to ensure access to general practice for patients who are vulnerable during a pandemic. The potential of telehealth consultations should be further investigated.

Variation of GP antibiotic prescribing tendency for contacts with out-of-hours primary care in Denmark - a cross-sectional register-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To study variation in antibiotic prescribing rates among general practitioners (GP) in out-of-hours (OOH) primary care and to explore GP characteristics associated with these rates. DESIGN: Population-based observational registry study using routine data from the OOH primary care registration system on patient contacts and antibiotic prescriptions combined with national register data. SETTING: OOH primary care of the Central Denmark Region. SUBJECTS: All patient contacts in 2014-2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: GPs' tendency to prescribe antibiotics. Excess variation (not attributable to chance). RESULTS: We included 794,220 clinic consultations (16.1% with antibiotics prescription), 281,141 home visits (11.6% antibiotics), and 1,583,919 telephone consultations (5.8% antibiotics). The excess variation in the tendency to prescribe antibiotics was 1.56 for clinic consultations, 1.64 for telephone consultations, and 1.58 for home visits. Some GP characteristics were significantly correlated with a higher tendency to prescribe antibiotics, including 'activity level' (i.e. number of patients seen in the past hour) for clinic and telephone consultations, 'familiarity with OOH care' (i.e. number of OOH shifts in the past 180 days), male sex, and younger age for home visits. Overall, GP characteristics explained little of the antibiotic prescribing variation seen among GPs (Pseudo r2: 0.008-0.025). CONCLUSION: Some variation in the GPs' tendency to prescribe antibiotics was found for OOH primary care contacts. Available GP characteristics, such as GPs' activity level and familiarity with OOH care, explained only small parts of this variation. Future research should focus on identifying factors that can explain this variation, as this knowledge could be used for designing interventions.KEY POINTSCurrent awareness:Antibiotic prescribing rates seem to be higher in out-of-hours than in daytime primary care.Most important results:Antibiotic prescribing rates varied significantly among general practitioners after adjustment for contact- and patient-characteristics.This variation remained even after accounting for variation attributable to chance.General practitioners' activity level and familiarity with out-of-hours care were positively associated with their tendency to prescribe antibiotics.

Health care utilization related to the introduction of designated GPs at care homes in Denmark: a register-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between having designated general practitioners (GPs) in residential care homes and the residents' number of contacts with primary care, number of hospital admissions and mortality. DESIGN: A retrospective register-based longitudinal study. SETTING: Forty-two care homes in Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. SUBJECTS: A total of 2376 care home residents in the period from 1 September 2016 to 31 December 2018. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We used two models to calculate the incidence risk ratio (IRR) for primary care contacts, hospital admission or dying. Model 1 compared the residents' risk time before with their risk time after implementation of the designated GP model. Model 2 included only risk time after implementation and was based on calculations of successful (rate ≥60%) implementation. RESULTS: Weighted by time at risk, the proportion of females across the two models ranged from 64% to 68%. The largest group was aged '85-94' years. In Model 1, the mere implementation of the model did not correlate with changes in primary care contacts, hospital admissions, or mortality. Contrarily, in Model 2, residents living in care homes with successful implementation had fewer email contacts (IRR = 0.81, 95%CI: 0.68;0.96), fewer telephone contacts (IRR = 0.78, 95%CI: 0.68;0.90) and fewer hospital admissions (IRR = 0.85, 95%CI: 0.73;0.99), but more home visits (IRR = 1.70, 95%CI: 1.29;2.25) than residents living in care homes with lower implementation rates. CONCLUSION: The designated GP model seems promising, as a high implementation degree of the model correlated with a reduced the number of acute admissions, short-term admissions and readmissions. Future studies should focus on gaining deeper insight into the mechanisms of the designated GP model to further optimize the model.Key pointsA new care model was introduced in Denmark in 2017, designating dedicated GPs to residential care homes for the elderly.Successful implementation correlated with significantly fewer hospital admissions, specifically for acute admissions, but also with fewer short-term admissions and readmissions.The implementation of the model correlated significantly with fewer e-mail and telephone contacts and with more home visits.Future studies should gain more insight into the mechanisms of the designated GP model to further optimize the model.

Antibiotic treatment of community-acquired pneumonia: A questionnaire survey in Danish general practice.

BACKGROUND: Discrepancies exist in Danish guidelines for the treatment of bacterial community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This study aimed to investigate how general practitioners (GPs) treat adults with CAP and explore associations between GP characteristics and treatment duration. METHODS: In autumn 2020, GPs in the North Denmark Region were asked to complete an electronic questionnaire on antibiotic prescribing for CAP. Information about GP gender, age, experience and type of practice was obtained. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyse the association between GP characteristics and treatment duration. RESULTS: A total of 298 GPs were invited to participate of whom 108 completed the survey. Penicillin V was used as first line treatment for CAP by all participants. Treatment duration varied from 5 (54.6%) to 10 days (8.3%). A 5-day course of penicillin was less likely to be prescribed by male GPs (odds ratio [OR] 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13-0.94) and more likely to be prescribed by GPs with 5-9 years of experience in general practice (OR 5.03, 95% CI 1.09-23.21) compared to those with 10-19 years of experience. CONCLUSION: Variation in antibiotic treatment of CAP emphasises the importance of generating solid evidence about the optimal duration regarding both effectiveness and safety.

Help-seeking behaviour and subsequent patient and system delays in stroke.

OBJECTIVES: Prehospital delay is the main reason why only a limited number of stroke patients receive reperfusion therapy. We aimed to investigate help-seeking behaviour in patients and bystanders after onset of stroke and subsequent patient and system delay. MATERIALS & METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 332 patients with stroke. We performed structured interviews and used data from the medical records and the Danish Stroke Registry. Primary outcomes were patient delay and system delay. RESULTS: The median patient delay was 280 min, and the median system delay was 97 min. For a patient delay of <3 h, an additional non-significant system delay of median 30 min was seen for a first contact to a general practitioner (GP), and an additional significant delay of median 490 min was seen for the small group of patients with a first contact to 'other' healthcare professionals compared to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS). For a patient delay of more than 3 h, an additional system delay of median 78 min was found when the first contact was directed to the out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC). A total of 17% of patients were admitted to another hospital or department before arrival at the stroke centre; this resulted in a substantially prolonged system delay of a median of 431 min. CONCLUSIONS: Patient delay remains the main reason for delayed arrival at the stroke centre. Appropriate help-seeking behaviour and efficient pre-hospital triage are essential for reducing the prehospital delay and increasing the proportion of patients receiving reperfusion therapy.

Use of acute care services by adults with a migrant background: a secondary analysis of a EurOOHnet survey.

BACKGROUND: High demands create pressure on acute care services, such as emergency medical services (EMS), emergency departments (ED) and out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC) services. A variety of patient- and organisational factors have been discussed as reasons why especially non-western migrants more frequently contact an ED or OOH-PC service than native born. We aim to investigate whether persons with a non-western and western migrant background more often contact an acute care service than native born and how this relates to the number of contacts with their general practitioners (GPs). In addition, we aim to explore how possible differences in acute care use by migrants can be explained. METHODS: We performed secondary analysis of data collected for the EurOOHnet survey on OOH help-seeking behaviour in Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Differences in self-reported acute care use (sum of number of contacts with OOH-PC, the ED and 1-1-2/1-4-4) between non-western and western migrants and native born were tested with a quasi Poisson regression analysis. Mediation analyses were performed to examine the impact of factors related to help-seeking on the relation between self-reported acute care use and migrant background. RESULTS: Non-western migrants had more acute care contacts than native born (adjusted IRR 1.74, 95% CI 1.33-2.25), whereas no differences were found between western migrants and native born. Migrants who regularly contacted OOH-PC or the ED also regularly contacted their GP. Mediation analyses showed that the factors employment, anxiety, attitude towards use of OOH-PC and problems in accessing the own GP could partly explain the higher acute care use of non-western migrants. CONCLUSION: The higher use of acute care services by non-western migrants compared with native born could partly be explained by feeling fewer barriers to contact these services, feeling more anxiety, more unemployment and problems making an appointment with the GP. Increasing awareness and improving GP access could help migrants in navigating the healthcare system.

Who prescribes drugs to patients: A Danish register-based study.

We describe the distribution of prescriber types responsible for issuing prescriptions in Denmark. Using a 20% random sample of all Danes alive during 2000-2018 (n = 1 515 025) and all their prescriptions filled at community pharmacies (n = 182 143 707), we found that general practitioners issued 88% of all prescriptions, followed by hospital physicians (7.4%) and private practicing specialists (4.2%). These values were stable over the study period. With increasing patient age, general practitioners were responsible for a larger proportion of prescriptions (e.g. 68% for patients aged 0-17 y and 89% for patients ≥51 y). General practitioners were responsible for 84% of all treatment initiation (first prescription) and 90% of all maintenance treatment. Corresponding values for hospital physicians were 9.5 and 6.3%, and for private practicing specialists 5.3 and 3.6%. In conclusion, general practitioners are responsible for the vast majority of prescribing in Denmark, including both treatment initiation and continuation, in particular among the elderly.

Does an emergency access button increase the patients' satisfaction and feeling of safety with the out-of-hours health services? A randomised controlled trial in Denmark.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if the option to bypass the telephone queue can increase satisfaction and feeling of safety in callers. DESIGN: Randomised controlled parallel superiority trial. Data from questionnaire survey. SETTING: Two out-of-hours (OOH) services in Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: 217 510 citizens who called the OOH services between 4 September 2017 and 30 November 2017. RANDOMISATION: Two-faze study period: First half with randomisation of participants based on their date of birth; even date randomised to intervention, uneven date randomised to control group. Second half with all participants included in intervention group. INTERVENTION: Providing randomised callers (intervention group n=146 355) with the option to bypass the telephone waiting line through an emergency access button (EAB), while the rest got the normal service (control group n=71 155). All EAB users were invited to a questionnaire survey as well as random participants who did not use the EAB (of whom approximately 50% did not have the EAB option). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Satisfaction and feeling of safety in callers. RESULTS: 2208 of 6704 (32.9%) invited callers answered the questionnaire (intervention group n=1415 (users n=621, non-users n=794); control group n=793). The OR for answering in the two categories with highest satisfaction when provided with the EAB option was 1.34 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.68) for satisfaction with the waiting time, 1.21 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.60) for overall satisfaction and 1.46 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.89) for feeling of safety. Approximately 72% (441/621) of EAB users reported that the EAB option increased their feeling of safety with the OOH services 'to a high degree' compared with 25% (197/794) of callers who had the EAB option without using it. CONCLUSIONS: The EAB can provide fast access to OOH telephone advice in case of severe illness. It favours citizens perceived in most need of urgent healthcare and significantly increases both feeling of safety and patient satisfaction. TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: NCT02572115 (5 October 2015).

Sociodemographic Characteristics Associated with Contacts to Emergency Medical Services and Out-of-Hours Primary Care: An Observational Study of 2.3 Million Citizens.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hours (OOH) health care services are often divided into emergency medical services (EMS) and OOH primary care (OOH-PC). EMS and many OOH-PC use telephone triage, yet the patient still makes the initial choice of contacting a service and which service. Sociodemographic characteristics are associated with help-seeking. Yet, differences in characteristics for EMS and OOH-PC patients have not been investigated in any large-scale cohort studies. Such knowledge may contribute to organizing OOH services to match patient needs. Thus, in this study we aimed to explore which sociodemographic patient characteristics were associated with utilizing OOH health care and to explore which sociodemographic characteristics were associated with EMS or OOH-PC contact. METHODS: A population-based observational cohort study of inhabitants in two regions (North Denmark Region and Capital Region of Copenhagen) with or without contact to OOH services during 2016 was conducted. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics and OOH contacts (and EMS versus OOH-PC contact) were evaluated by regression analyses. RESULTS: We identified 619,857 patients with OOH contact. Female sex (IRR=1.16 (95% CI: 1.16-1.17)), non-western ethnicity (IRR=1.02 (95% CI: 1.01-1.02)), living alone (IRR=1.08 (95% CI: 1.08-1.09)), age groups ≥81 years (IRR=2.00 (95% CI: 1.98-2.02)) and 0-18 years (IRR=1.66 (95% CI: 1.66-1.67)) and low income (IRR=1.41 (95% CI: 1.40-1.42)) were more likely to contact OOH health care compared to males, Danish ethnicity, citizens cohabitating, age 31-65 years and high income. Disability pensioners more often contacted OOH care (IRR=1.79 (95% CI: 1.77-1.81) compared to employees. Old age (≥81 years) (OR=3.21 (95% CI: 3.13-3.30)), receiving cash benefits (OR=2.45 (95% CI: 2.36-2.54)), low income (OR=1.76 (95% CI: 1.72-1.81)) and living alone (OR=1.40 (95% CI: 1.37-1.42)) were all associated with EMS contacts rather than OOH-PC contacts. CONCLUSION: Several sociodemographic factors were associated with contacting a health care service outside office hours and with contacting EMS rather than OOH-PC. Old age, low income, low education and low socioeconomic status were of greatest importance.

Communication quality in telephone triage conducted by general practitioners, nurses or physicians: a quasi-experimental study using the AQTT to assess audio-recorded telephone calls to out-of-hours primary care in Denmark.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the quality of communication in out-of-hours (OOH) telephone triage conducted by general practitioners (GPs), nurses using a computerised decision support system and physicians with different medical specialities, and to explore the association between communication quality and efficiency, length of call and the accuracy of telephone triage. DESIGN: Natural quasi-experimental cross-sectional study. SETTING: Two Danish OOH services using different telephone triage models: a GP cooperative and the medical helpline 1813. PARTICIPANTS: 1294 audio-recorded randomly selected OOH telephone triage calls from 2016 conducted by GPs (n=423), nurses using CDSS (n=430) and physicians with different medical specialities (n=441). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Twenty-four physicians assessed the calls. The panel used a validated assessment tool (Assessment of Quality in Telephone Triage, AQTT) to measure nine aspects of communication, overall perceived communication quality, efficiency and length of call. RESULTS: The risk of poor quality was significantly higher in calls triaged by GPs compared with calls triaged by nurses regarding 'allowing the caller to describe the situation' (GP: 13.5% nurse: 9.8%), 'mastering questioning techniques' (GP: 27.4% nurse: 21.1%), 'summarising' (GP: 33.0% nurse: 21.0%) and 'paying attention to caller's experience' (GP: 25.7% nurse: 17.0%). The risk of poor quality was significantly higher in calls triaged by physicians compared with calls triaged by GPs in five out of nine items. GP calls were significantly shorter (2 min 57 s) than nurse calls (4 min 44 s) and physician calls (4 min 1 s). Undertriaged calls were rated lower than optimally triaged calls for overall quality of communication (p<0.001) and all specific items. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with telephone triage by GPs, the communication quality was higher in calls triaged by nurses and lower in calls triaged by physicians with different medical specialities. However, calls triaged by nurses and physicians were longer and perceived less efficient. Quality of communication was associated with accurate triage.

Acute care pathways for patients calling the out-of-hours services.

BACKGROUND: In Western countries, patients with acute illness or injury out-of-hours (OOH) can call either emergency medical services (EMS) for emergencies or primary care services (OOH-PC) in less urgent situations. Callers initially choose which service to contact; whether this choice reflect the intended differences in urgency and severity is unknown. Hospital diagnoses and admission rates following an OOH service contact could elucidate this. We aimed to investigate and compare the prevalence of patient contacts, subsequent hospital contacts, and the age-related pattern of hospital diagnoses following an out-of-hours contact to EMS or OOH-PC services in Denmark. METHODS: Population-based observational cohort study including patients from two Danish regions with contact to EMS or OOH-PC in 2016. Hospital contacts were defined as short (< 24 h) or admissions (≥24 h) on the date of OOH service contact. Both regions have EMS, whereas the North Denmark Region has a general practitioner cooperative (GPC) as OOH-PC service and the Capital Region of Copenhagen the Medical Helpline 1813 (MH-1813), together representing all Danish OOH service types. Calling an OOH service is mandatory prior to a hospital contact outside office hours. RESULTS: OOH-PC handled 91% (1,107,297) of all contacts (1,219,963). Subsequent hospital contacts were most frequent for EMS contacts (46-54%) followed by MH-1813 (41%) and GPC contacts (9%). EMS had more admissions (52-56%) than OOH-PC. For both EMS and OOH-PC, short hospital contacts often concerned injuries (32-63%) and non-specific diagnoses (20-45%). The proportion of circulatory disease was almost twice as large following EMS (13-17%) compared to OOH-PC (7-9%) in admitted patients, whereas respiratory diseases (11-14%), injuries (15-22%) and non-specific symptoms (22-29%) were more equally distributed. Generally, admitted patients were older. CONCLUSIONS: EMS contacts were fewer, but with a higher percentage of hospital contacts, admissions and prevalence of circulatory diseases compared to OOH-PC, perhaps indicating that patients more often contact EMS in case of severe disease. However, hospital diagnoses only elucidate severity of diseases to some extent, and other measures of severity could be considered in future studies. Moreover, the socio-demographic pattern of patients calling OOH needs exploration as this may play an important role in choice of entrance.

Understanding the seriousness of a stroke is essential for appropriate help-seeking and early arrival at a stroke centre: A cross-sectional study of stroke patients and their bystanders.

INTRODUCTION: Only a minority of patients with acute ischaemic stroke receive reperfusion treatment, primarily due to prehospital delay. We aimed to investigate predictors of a primary contact to the emergency medical services, arrival at stroke centre within 3 h of symptom onset and initiation of reperfusion therapy in patients with acute stroke. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of consecutive patients with acute ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage or transient ischaemic attack. Structured interviews of patients and bystanders were performed and combined with clinical information from the Danish Stroke Registry. Eligible patients were aged ≥18 years and were independent in activities of daily living before the stroke. RESULTS: We included 435 patients. Presence of a bystander at symptom onset and knowledge of ≥2 core symptoms of stroke were associated with a primary emergency medical services contact. Higher stroke severity and patients or bystanders perceiving the situation as very serious were associated with a primary emergency medical services contact (ORpatients 2.10; 95% CI 1.12-3.95 and ORbystanders 22.60; 95% CI 4.98-102.67), <3 h from onset to arrival (ORpatients 3.01; 95% CI 1.46-6.21 and ORbystanders 4.44; 95% CI 1.37-14.39) and initiation of reperfusion therapy (ORpatients 3.08; 95% CI 1.23-7.75 and ORbystanders 4.70; 95% CI 1.14-19.5).Conclusion: Having a bystander, knowledge of ≥2 core symptoms and understanding that stroke is a serious event are associated with appropriate help-seeking behaviour, shorter prehospital delay and higher chance of reperfusion therapy in acute stroke patients.

Contacting out-of-hours primary care or emergency medical services for time-critical conditions - impact on patient outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hours (OOH) healthcare services in Western countries are often differentiated into out-of-hours primary healthcare services (OOH-PC) and emergency medical services (EMS). Call waiting time, triage model and intended aims differ between these services. Consequently, the care pathway and outcome could vary based on the choice of entrance to the healthcare system. We aimed to investigate patient pathways and 1- and 1-30-day mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) stay and length of hospital stay for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke and sepsis in relation to the OOH service that was contacted prior to the hospital contact. METHODS: Population-based observational cohort study during 2016 including adult patients from two Danish regions with an OOH service contact on the date of hospital contact. Patients <18 years were excluded. Data was retrieved from OOH service databases and national registries, linked by a unique personal identification number. Crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to assess mortality in relation to contacted OOH service with OOH-PC as the reference and cox regression analysis to assess risk of ICU stay. RESULTS: We included 6826 patients. AMI and stroke patients more often contacted EMS (52.1 and 54.1%), whereas sepsis patients predominately called OOH-PC (66.9%). Less than 10% (all diagnoses) of patients contacted both OOH-PC & EMS. Stroke patients with EMS or OOH-PC & EMS contacts had higher likelihood of 1- and 1-30-day mortality, in particular 1-day (EMS: OR = 5.33, 95% CI: 2.82-10.08; OOH-PC & EMS: OR = 3.09, 95% CI: 1.06-9.01). Sepsis patients with EMS or OOH-PC & EMS contacts also had higher likelihood of 1-day mortality (EMS: OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.40-3.51; OOH-PC & EMS: OR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.56-5.23) and 1-30-day mortality. Risk of ICU stay was only significantly higher for stroke patients contacting EMS (EMS: HR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.51-3.75). Stroke and sepsis patients with EMS contact had longer hospital stays. CONCLUSIONS: More patients contacted OOH-PC than EMS. Sepsis and stroke patients contacting EMS solely or OOH-PC & EMS had higher likelihood of 1- and 1-30-day mortality during the subsequent hospital contact. Our results suggest that patients contacting EMS are more severely ill, however OOH-PC is still often used for time-critical conditions.

Communicative characteristics of general practitioner-led and nurse-led telephone triage at two Danish out-of-hours services: an observational study of 200 recorded calls.

OBJECTIVES: Out-of-hours (OOH) telephone triage is used to manage patient flow, but knowledge of the communicative skills of telephone triagists is limited. The aims of this study were to compare communicative parameters in general practitioner (GP)-led and nurse-led OOH telephone triage and to discuss differences in relation to patient-centred communication and safety issues. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Two Danish OOH settings: a large-scale general practitioner cooperative in the Central Denmark Region (n=100 GP-led triage conversations) and Medical Helpline 1813 in the Capital Region of Denmark (n=100 nurse-led triage conversations with use of a clinical decision support system). PARTICIPANTS: 200 audio-recorded telephone triage conversations randomly selected. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Conversations were compared with regard to length of call, distribution of speaking time, question types, callers' expression of negative affect, and nurses' and GPs' responses to callers' negative affectivity using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Student's t-test. RESULTS: Compared with GPs, nurses had longer telephone contacts (137s vs 264 s, p=0.001) and asked significantly more questions (5 vs 9 questions, p=0.001). In 36% of nurse-led triage conversations, triage nurses either transferred the call to a physician or had to confer the call with a physician. Nurses gave the callers significantly more spontaneous talking time than GPs (23.4s vs 17.9 s, p=0.01). Compared with nurses, GPs seemed more likely to give an emphatic response when a caller spontaneously expressed concern; however, this difference was not statistically significant (36% vs 29%, p=0.6). CONCLUSIONS: When comparing communicative parameters in GP-led and nurse-led triage, several differences were observed. However, the impact of these differences in the perspective of patient-centred communication and safety needs further research. More knowledge is needed to determine what characterises good quality in telephone triage communication.

Preschool children in Danish out-of-hours primary care: a one-year descriptive study of face-to-face consultations.

BACKGROUND: The demand for out-of-hours (OOH) primary care has increased during the last decades, with a considerable amount of contacts for young children. This study aims to describe the reasons for encounter (RFE), the most common diagnoses, the provided care, and the parental satisfaction with the general practitioner (GP) led OOH service in a Danish population of children (0-5 years). METHODS: We conducted a one-year cross-sectional study based on data for 2363 randomly selected contacts concerning children from a survey on OOH primary care including 21,457 patients in Denmark. For each contact, the GPs completed an electronic pop-up questionnaire in the patient's medical record. Questionnaire items focussed on RFE, health problem severity, diagnosis, provided care, and satisfaction. The parents subsequently received a postal questionnaire. RESULTS: The most common RFE was non-specific complaints (40%), followed by respiratory tract symptoms (23%), skin symptoms (9%), and digestive organ symptoms (8%). The most common diagnosis group was respiratory tract diseases (41%), followed by general complaints (19%) and ear diseases (16%). Prescriptions were dispensed for 27% of contacts, and about ¾ were for antibiotics. A total of 12% contacts concerned acute otitis media; antibiotics were prescribed in 70%. A total of 38% of contacts concerned fever, and » got antibiotics. A total of 7.4% were referred for further evaluation. The parental satisfaction was generally high, but 7.0% were dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction was correlated with low prescription rate. CONCLUSION: Respiratory tract diseases were the most common diagnoses. The GPs at the OOH primary care service referred children to hospital in 7.4% of the face-to-face consultations, and the provided care was evaluated as non-satisfying by only 7.0% of the parents. Clinical implications of the findings mean room for less prescription of antibiotic to children with ear diseases and a need for research in factors related to dissatisfaction.