EPICS-8: Reasons for Emergency Department Utilization by Patients With Non-urgent Conditions (EPICS-8)

Emergency Processes in Clinical Structures - EPICS-8: Gründe für Die Inanspruchnahme Der Notaufnahme Durch Patienten Mit Blauer, grüner Oder Gelber Triagekategorie Und Ambulantem Behandlungsbedarf

EPICS-8: Reasons for Emergency Department utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions:

Emergency Departments (EDs) are an important interface between primary and secondary health care sectors in Germany. The number of outpatient visits in the ED´s is still increasing. The reasons for ED utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions are nearly unknown in Germany and will be investigated in this project.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Non-urgent Emergencies

Detailed Description

EPICS-8: Reasons for Emergency Department utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions:

Emergency Departments (EDs) are an important interface between primary and the secondary health care system in Germany. The number of outpatient visits in the ED´s is still increasing. The reasons for ED utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions are nearly unknown in Germany and will be explored in this project.

EPICS-8 is a pilot study to establish a research structure for the linkage of ED-data with data of the primary health care sector. Data linkage will be conducted for patients with the Manchester Triage System categories blue, green and yellow. A secondary aim of the EPICS-8 study is to develop a valid questionnaire for the assessment of reasons for ED utilization by non-urgent patients.

Primary objective:

Establishing of a research structure for the linkage of inhospital-data with data from the primary health care System. Records of 5,000 patients who attended one of the two EDs at the Charité University Medicine Berlin will be linked to Primary health care data.

Secondary objectives:

1. Development and testing of a questionaire for the identification of reasons for emergency department utilization by patients with non-urgent conditions (n=100)
2. Characterization and quantification of non-urgent emergencies
3. Explorative analysis of patient pathways and influencing factors for ED-visits with non-urgent conditions.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 5000

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Martin Möckel, MD; Email: martin.moeckel@charite.de
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Johann Frick, M A; Phone Number: 004930450553027; Email: johann.frick@charite.de

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Berlin, Germany, 13353
    • Recruiting
    • Charité Universitätsmedizin - Berlin
    • Contact: Martin Möckel, MD; Email: martin.moeckel@charite.de
    • Contact: Johann Frick, M A; Phone Number: 004930450553027; Email: johann.frick@charite.de

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 115 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult men and women who are discharged after emergency treatment (outpatients) with an initial Manchester Triage Category of blue, green or yellow.

Description

Eligibility criteria for record linkage:

• Age>= 18 years
• Outpatients
• MTS-Triage category blue, green or yellow
• Treatment in one of the two participating EDs

Eligibility criteria for questionnaire pretest:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age>= 18 years
• Outpatients
• MTS-Triage category blue, green or yellow
• Treatment in one of the two participating EDs
• Eligibility to understand the study purposes and give written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Dementia
• no sufficient German language skills
• patients with legal representatives

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Non-urgent emergencies; Outpatients in the Emergency Department with the MTS-Triage category blue, green or yellow

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of patients with linkable records	The Primary outcome will be the proportion of patients with successful record linkage.	05/2016 - 05/2018

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Valid Questionnaire	A patients questionnaire for the assessment of Emergency Department utilization by non-urgent patients will be developed. The outcome of this work package will be a valid patient questionnaire.	05/2016 - 05/2017
Demographic characteristics of non-urgent ED patients	Descriptive analysis of demographic characteristics of ED patients with non-urgent conditions	During the study period
Clinical characteristics of non-urgent ED patients	Descriptive analysis of clinical characteristics of ED patients with non-urgent conditions	During the study period
Patient pathways for ED-Visits	Explorative analysis of patient pathways for ED-visits with non-urgent conditions	10/2017 - 05/2018
Influencing factors for ED-Visits	Explorative analysis of influencing factors for ED-visits with non-urgent conditions	10/2017 - 05/2018

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Charite University, Berlin, Germany
• Collaborators: Zentralinstitut für die Kassenärztliche Versorgung in Deutschland
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Martin Möckel, MD, Charite University, Berlin, Germany

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2018
• Study Completion (Anticipated): June 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 24, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2017
• First Posted (Estimate): January 31, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 18, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2018
• Last Verified: July 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: EPICS-8

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO