title: Using respiratory-related calls to a nurse advice line to predict pediatric upper respiratory infection-related healthcare utilization.
abstract: Using Poisson regression analysis, respiratory-related calls to a nurse advice line in Denver, Colorado were used to predict pediatric upper respiratory infection (URI) outpatient and urgent care visits. Use of electronic hospital information systems and triage software allowed for the rapid identification of respiratory-related calls and URI-related utilization. Monitoring nurse advice line call volume may help increase awareness and planning for increases in healthcare utilization.
authors.affiliation: Denver Public Health, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: McClung
authors.forename: D Diane
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Gregory M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Bogdan
authors.forename: Arthur J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D003120:Colorado; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D009732:Nursing Care; D010372:Pediatrics; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013689:Telephone; D014218:Triage