Modeling the Impact of Inbound Call Distribution Virtualization in Emergency Medical Communication Centers (EMCCs) on Their Service Level (CALL_SAMU)

Fast access to the Emergency Medical Communication Center (EMCC) is essential for the population in emergency situation. It is therefore essential that these call centers operate quickly and provide good quality service. However, in recent years, EMCCs have experienced a constant and increasing demand from the population. Thus, maintaining the current organization of emergency medical communication centers raises questions about both the volume of incoming calls to EMCCs and the economic constraints, which make it difficult to manage call peaks, especially in periods of crisis.

The aim of our study is to assess the impact of incoming call distribution virtualization in EMCCs on their service quality.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems, Health Care

Detailed Description

France is facing political decisions on the evolution of Emergency Medical Communication Center organization to improve population accessibility. Regarding the performance targets requested by the French government (MARCUS report: http://www.urgences113.fr/marcus/Rapport_MARCUS3.pdf), the virtualization of inbound call distribution could improve EMCC service quality indicators.

The Virtualization is a process that consists of centralizing calls from different territories before distributing them to the centers concerned according to their availability. The objective through this process is to improve the population' access to the EMCC by reducing waits time. And on the other hand, to optimize the activity rate of dispatchers and physicians.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 1500000

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Yann Penverne, MD; Phone Number: +33 +336 50 84 05 72; Email: yann.penverne@chu-nantes.fr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Maxime Lebeaupin; Phone Number: +33 +336 63 63 91 41; Email: maxime.lebeaupin@chu-nantes.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: ADULT; OLDER_ADULT; CHILD
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All Users calling through the five Emergency Medical Centers of the French Pays de la Loire region (5 areas of the region are : Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, Vendée).

In each Emergency Medical Center, an advanced telephone system automatically keeps track of all inbound calls.

Average annual number of incoming calls for the 5 Emergency Medical Center of Pays de la Loire region is 1,6 million.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All incoming calls passing through the five Emergency Medical Centers in the Pays de la Loire region (Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe and Vendée). In each center, an advanced telephone system automatically keeps track of all inbound calls.

Exclusion Criteria:

According to the French national consortium, incoming calls that hung up in less than 10 seconds are considered as dialing errors and are excluded

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Case Group (unic); Group/Cohort Label :Users of Emergency Call Centers Users of French territory 'Region Pays de la Loire'; Group/Cohort Description: All Users calling through the five Emergency Medical Centers of the French Pays de la Loire region (5 areas of the region are : Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, Vendée). In each Emergency Medical Center, an advanced telephone system automatically keeps track of all inbound calls. Average annual number of incoming calls for the 5 Emergency Medical Center of Pays de la Loire region is 1,6 million.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Operational level of service, defined by the quality of service at 20 s (QS20). It corresponds to the rate of answered calls within 20 s	This indicator is one of the most frequently used internationally to measure the performance of emergency call centers	20 seconds

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Nantes University Hospital
• Collaborators: IMT Mines Albi - France (https://www.imt-mines-albi.fr/)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Yann Penverne, MD, CHU Nantes

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Presentation of the study context; description of the protocol and his main objectives. Presentation of the team

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ANTICIPATED): January 15, 2021
• Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED): December 16, 2021
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): December 16, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 11, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 11, 2020
• First Posted (ACTUAL): December 17, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): December 17, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 11, 2020
• Last Verified: December 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Emergency health service, Accessibility, Virtualization, organization
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: RC20_0064

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No