Time Within the Acute Care Chain: How Long Have Medical Emergency Department Patients Spent

NCT06079099 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: TACC
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 583
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 6

Brief Summary

This study is part of a research domain focusing on the acute care chain, which includes the patient journey from symptoms to treatment on the Emergency Medical Department (ED). Within hospitals there is much attention for triage and the amount of time patients spent within the chain, especially for the ED. However, there is less information available on what occurs before patients visit the ED. Gaining more insight in the patient journey in the acute care chain as a whole, might provide important information to further optimize care at the ED. In the current study, 750 patients will be included at multiple ED's in the Netherlands. The primary goal is to gain insight in the patient journey of adult ED patients.

Conditions

Emergencies

Keywords

Acute Care Chain; Emergency Department; Patient Journey

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Total time a patient spent in acute care chain.

  Patient journey in the acute care chain. From all included patients: We measure the duration in the Acute care chain: From the moment a patient has contact with the referring healthcare provider until ED discharge

  up to hours with a maximum of 48 hours.Time unit: hours.

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Number of contacts with a healthcare provider this disease period

  Days, maximum 14 days. Time unit: days.

• How many investigations were done during the ED visit

  During ED stay, that means in a couple of hours. ED stays are no longer that > 1 day. time unit is hours.

• Number of participant that are admitted to the hospital.

  30 days after ED visit we check on how many patients are admitted. Time frame 30 days. Unit: number of participants.

• Number of participant that are deceased after 30 days. .

  30 days after ED visit we check on how many patients are deceased. Time frame 30 days. Unit: number of participants.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult patients who visit the ED in need of acute care

You may qualify if:

• Patients of 18 years and older
• Patient is able and willing to sign informed consent or has a legal representative

You may not qualify if:

• \- Language barrier

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Maastricht University Medical Center: lead

Study Sites (6)

MUMC

Maastricht, Limburg, 6202 AZ, Netherlands

Location

Zuyderland MC

Heerlen, Netherlands

Location

Laurentius Ziekenhuis Roermond

Roermond, Netherlands

Location

Zuyderland MC

Sittard, Netherlands

Location

VieCuri

Venlo, Netherlands

Location

St. Jans Gasthuis Weert

Weert, Netherlands

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Claassen L, Stassen PM, Boumans TJT, Barten DG, Kremers MNT, Hermans AME, Zelis N, Cals JWL, Latten GHP. Characteristics of Dutch ED patients and their journey through the acute care chain: A province-wide flash-mob study. PLoS One. 2025 Apr 3;20(4):e0318510. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318510. eCollection 2025.

  PMID: 40179077 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Emergencies

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 22, 2021
• First Posted: October 12, 2023
• Study Start: April 20, 2022
• Primary Completion: April 24, 2022
• Study Completion: August 30, 2022
• Last Updated: October 12, 2023

Record last verified: 2021-12

Locations

NL (6)