The (Cost-)Effectiveness of Nurse Practitioners Working at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service

NCT01388374 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 80-82800-98-227
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 12,092
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aim of this study is to explore whether the implementation of Nurse Practitioners can lead to a more accessible and efficient patient care at the primary out of hours service. The primary objectives of the proposed study are:

1. 1.What are the effects of the implementation of NPs on the primary out of hours service in comparison with the current out of hours service? Effects in terms of accessibility, objective and subjective workload of general practitioners, quality of care and patient satisfaction.
2. 2.How efficient is the implementation of NPs in the primary out of hours services?
3. 3.What is the feasibility of the implementation of NPs in the out of hours services? And under which conditions?
4. 4.What are the barriers and facilitating factors considering the implementation of NPs?

Conditions

Out of Hours Medical Care; Primary Health Care

Keywords

Delivery of Health Care; Nurse Practitioners; Out of Hours Medical Care; Primary Health Care; Emergency Medical Services

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Accessibility of care

  Number of patients that have a consult at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service; Waiting time; Productivity by NPs in comparison with productivity by GPs.

  15 months

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Quality and safety of care

  15 months

• Patient satisfaction

  15 months

• Feasibility

  15 months

• Efficiency of care

  15 months

• Workload

  15 months

Study Arms (2)

General Practitioners Care

NO INTERVENTION

Usual medical care provided by a general practitioner at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service.

Nurse Practitioners Care

EXPERIMENTAL

Medical care provided by the Nurse Practitioner at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service.

Other: Other, care provided by Nurse Practitioners

Interventions

Other, care provided by Nurse Practitioners OTHER

Patients will receive care at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service by a Nurse Practitioner instead of a General Practitioner (substitution of care from physicians to nurses).

Nurse Practitioners Care

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 1 Year+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Patients (with urgency U2, U3, or U4) requesting an appointment at the primary out of hours emergency service during the weekend between 10.00 and 17.00 hours.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients under the age of 1 year
• Patients with psychiatric complaints
• Patients with abdominal pain, abdominal infections, chest pain or neck complaints (angina pectoris), headache and dizziness.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Radboud University Medical Center: lead
• ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Centrale Huisartsen Post (CHP)

Eindhoven, North Brabant, 5623 EJ, Netherlands

Location

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Related Links

• Projectdescription and dutch documentation related to the project

Study Officials

• M.G.H. Laurant, Dr.

  IQ healthcare, UMC St Radboud

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 4, 2011
• First Posted: July 6, 2011
• Study Start: December 1, 2010
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2012
• Study Completion: October 1, 2012
• Last Updated: April 22, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-04

Locations

NL (1)