Differentiated Access to Out-of-hours Primary Care Through Emergency Access

NCT02572115 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: JFME001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 7,385
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to test the use of an emergency button that allows patients to jump the telephone waiting line at the out-of-hours primary care in two regions in Denmark if they perceive their illness as acute and severe.

Conditions

After-hours Care

Keywords

After-Hours Care; Primary Care; Emergency Medical Services/utilization; Denmark; Questionnaires; Patient Satisfaction; Patient feeling of safety; Triage/standards; Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; Female; Hotlines; telenursing; Night Care/utilization; postal service

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Patient satisfaction and feeling of safety with the intervention measured by questionnaire

  Measured by questionnaire after contact with the OOH-PC sent out 2-4 days after contact

• Frequencies of patients who jumped the line

  Numbers and statistics from data provider

  Up to 4 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Description of the characteristics of the patients who jump the line compared with the ones who do not

  Measured by questionnaire after contact with the OOH-PC sent out 2-4 days after contact

• Reasons for jumping (or not jumping) the line measured by questionnaire

  Measured by questionnaire after contact with the OOH-PC sent out 2-4 days after contact

• Rate of jumps assessed as relevant by the triage professional

  Up to 4 months

Study Arms (3)

Intervention arm - jumped the line

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This arm is presented with the possibility to use the "emergency access button" that enables the patient to bypass the telephone waiting line. This arm represents the patients who choose to use the intervention.

Behavioral: Akutknappen - used

Intervention arm - did not jump the line

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This arm is presented with the possibility to use the "emergency access button" that enables the patient to bypass the telephone waiting line. This arm represents the patients who got the option to use the intervention but DID NOT.

Behavioral: Akutknappen - not used

Control

NO INTERVENTION

This arm does not get the intervention.

Interventions

Akutknappen - used BEHAVIORAL

A caller chooses to bypass the telephone waiting line by pressing the emergency access button

Intervention arm - jumped the line

Akutknappen - not used BEHAVIORAL

A caller chooses NOT to bypass the telephone waiting line.

Intervention arm - did not jump the line

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• All patients calling the OOH-PC in the Central Region of Denmark and the Helpline 1813 in the Capital Region in the study period are included

You may not qualify if:

• patients who died
• patients from 14 to 17 years (they sometime contact the services without the knowledge of their parents and receiving a questionnaire at their home address could be inconvenient)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Aarhus: lead
• Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University: collaborator
• Emergency Medical Services, Capital Region, Denmark: collaborator
• TrygFonden, Denmark: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Research unit for General Practice, University of Aarhus

Aarhus, Danmark, 8000, Denmark

Location

Related Publications (12)

• Flarup L, Moth G, Christensen MB, Vestergaard M, Olesen F, Vedsted P. A feasible method to study the Danish out-of-hours primary care service. Dan Med J. 2014 May;61(5):A4847.

  PMID: 24814746 BACKGROUND

• Christensen MB, Skafte-Holm P, Weinicke HH, Greibe J, Rem J, Sauer M, Andersen DH, Gliese MS. [General practitioners' evaluation of the out-of-hours service in Copenhagen County]. Ugeskr Laeger. 2005 Sep 5;167(36):3412-5. Danish.

  PMID: 16159495 BACKGROUND

• Christensen MB, Olesen F. Out of hours service in Denmark: evaluation five years after reform. BMJ. 1998 May 16;316(7143):1502-5. doi: 10.1136/bmj.316.7143.1502.

  PMID: 9582141 BACKGROUND

• Bunn F, Byrne G, Kendall S. Telephone consultation and triage: effects on health care use and patient satisfaction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004 Oct 18;(4):CD004180. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004180.pub2.

  PMID: 15495083 BACKGROUND

• Giesen P, Smits M, Huibers L, Grol R, Wensing M. Quality of after-hours primary care in the Netherlands: a narrative review. Ann Intern Med. 2011 Jul 19;155(2):108-13. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00006.

  PMID: 21768584 BACKGROUND

• Huibers L, Koetsenruijter J, Grol R, Giesen P, Wensing M. Follow-up after telephone consultations at out-of-hours primary care. J Am Board Fam Med. 2013 Jul-Aug;26(4):373-9. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2013.04.120185.

  PMID: 23833151 BACKGROUND

• Huibers L, Moth G, Andersen M, van Grunsven P, Giesen P, Christensen MB, Olesen F. Consumption in out-of-hours health care: Danes double Dutch? Scand J Prim Health Care. 2014 Mar;32(1):44-50. doi: 10.3109/02813432.2014.898974.

  PMID: 24635578 BACKGROUND

• Huibers L, Thijssen W, Koetsenruijter J, Giesen P, Grol R, Wensing M. GP cooperative and emergency department: an exploration of patient flows. J Eval Clin Pract. 2013 Apr;19(2):243-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01806.x. Epub 2012 Feb 5.

  PMID: 22304568 BACKGROUND

• Murphy AW. 'Inappropriate' attenders at accident and emergency departments I: definition, incidence and reasons for attendance. Fam Pract. 1998 Feb;15(1):23-32. doi: 10.1093/fampra/15.1.23.

  PMID: 9527294 BACKGROUND

• Ebert JF, Huibers L, Christensen B, Collatz Christensen H, Christensen MB. 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. BMJ Open. 2020 Sep 30;10(9):e030267. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030267.

  PMID: 32998912 DERIVED

• Ebert JF, Huibers L, Christensen B, Lippert FK, Christensen MB. Do callers to out-of-hours care misuse an option to jump the phone queue? Scand J Prim Health Care. 2019 Jun;37(2):207-217. doi: 10.1080/02813432.2019.1608067. Epub 2019 May 9.

  PMID: 31070507 DERIVED

• Ebert JF, Huibers L, Lippert FK, Christensen B, Christensen MB. Development and evaluation of an "emergency access button" in Danish out-of-hours primary care: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017 May 31;17(1):379. doi: 10.1186/s12913-017-2308-y.

  PMID: 28566087 DERIVED

Related Links

• Danish statistics

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patient Satisfaction

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Bo Christensen, MD, PhD

  Section for General Practice, University of Aarhus

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Morten B Christensen, MD, PhD

  Research Unit for General Practice, University of Aarhus

  STUDY CHAIR

• Linda Huibers, MD, PhD

  Research Unit for General Practice, University of Aarhus

  STUDY CHAIR

• Freddy Lippert, MD

  Prehospital Unit, Capital Region of Denmark

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: CARE PROVIDER
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 5, 2015
• First Posted: October 8, 2015
• Study Start: September 4, 2017
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2017
• Study Completion: December 1, 2017
• Last Updated: December 22, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-09

Locations

DK (1)