Measuring the inappropriate utilization of accident and emergency services?
Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments are increasingly popular venues for primary care, causing a serious threat to healthcare quality. This paper reports the development of a comprehensive research method for identifying primary care patients attending A&E. Patients were randomly selected from the four A&E departments across different time periods and different regions in Hong Kong. The definition of GP cases was based on a retrospective record review conducted by a panel of emergency physicians using the standard laid down by the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians. The patients sampled were similar in sex and age distribution to A&E attendees for the whole territory. The level of GP cases was found to be 57 per cent, with a significantly higher proportion of patients in the younger age group. The high level of use reflects the lack of a well co-ordinated development of primary care services and interfacing with secondary care.
Lee
A
A
Lau
F L
FL
Hazlett
C B
CB
Kam
C W
CW
Wong
P
P
Wong
T W
TW
Chow
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012494:Sampling Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000379:methods*