The (Cost-)Effectiveness of Physician Assistants Working at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service
6 de abril de 2016 actualizado por: Radboud University Medical Center
The aim of this study is to explore the effect of substituting General Practitioners (GPs) by Physician Assistants (PAs) in out-of-hours primary care.
Effects are measured in terms of the implication for the care model, quality of care delivered by PAs in comparison to GPs; the complaints treated by PAs in comparison to GPs; safety, efficiency and patient satisfaction.
Lastly, this study will provide insight in the changes in costs of healthcare.
Descripción general del estudio
Estado
Terminado
Condiciones
Intervención / Tratamiento
Descripción detallada
Out-of-hours care in the Netherlands is under pressure. Workload for general practitioners (GPs) during out-of-hours care is high and there are concerns about maintaining the quality of care. Since 80% of the complaints shown in out-of-hours care are low complex and not urgent, not all patients necessarily have to be seen by a physician. Shifting care from GPs to physician assistants (PAs) is considered to be a possible method to reduce workload while maintaining high quality and safety of care.
Previous research, on PAs in primary care during office hours, has shown PAs were found to be acceptable, effective and efficient in complementing the work of GPs.
We hypothesize that in a team of PAs and GPs working out-of-hours primary care, the PAs will deliver care to less urgent and complex complaints, deliver quality of care comparable to GPs and their implementation will lead to a reduction in cost of healthcare.
We compare care provided by a team of PAs and GPs with a team of only GPs. Within the team of PAs and GPs we make a comparison between the two healthcare professionals.
Tipo de estudio
Intervencionista
Inscripción (Actual)
10161
Fase
- No aplica
Contactos y Ubicaciones
Esta sección proporciona los datos de contacto de quienes realizan el estudio e información sobre dónde se lleva a cabo este estudio.
Ubicaciones de estudio
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Emmen, Países Bajos, 7824 AA
- Centrale Huisartsendienst Drenthe
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Criterios de participación
Los investigadores buscan personas que se ajusten a una determinada descripción, denominada criterio de elegibilidad. Algunos ejemplos de estos criterios son el estado de salud general de una persona o tratamientos previos.
Criterio de elegibilidad
Edades elegibles para estudiar
- Niño
- Adulto
- Adulto Mayor
Acepta Voluntarios Saludables
Sí
Géneros elegibles para el estudio
Todos
Descripción
Inclusion Criteria:
- Patients (with urgency U2, U3, U4, or U5) requesting an appointment at the primary out of hours emergency service during the weekend between 9.00 and 17.00 hours.
Exclusion criteria:
- None
Plan de estudios
Esta sección proporciona detalles del plan de estudio, incluido cómo está diseñado el estudio y qué mide el estudio.
¿Cómo está diseñado el estudio?
Detalles de diseño
- Propósito principal: Investigación de servicios de salud
- Asignación: No aleatorizado
- Modelo Intervencionista: Asignación paralela
- Enmascaramiento: Ninguno (etiqueta abierta)
Armas e Intervenciones
Grupo de participantes/brazo |
Intervención / Tratamiento |
|---|---|
|
Sin intervención: General Practitioners Care
Usual medical care provided by a general practitioner at the out-of-hours primary care service
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Experimental: Physician Assistants Care
Medical care provided by the Physician Assistant at the out-of-hours primary care service
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Patients will receive care at the out-of-hours primary care service by a Physician Assistant instead of a General Practitioner (substitution of care from physicians to nurses).
|
¿Qué mide el estudio?
Medidas de resultado primarias
Medida de resultado |
Medida Descripción |
Periodo de tiempo |
|---|---|---|
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Number of patients
Periodo de tiempo: 18 months
|
To measure substitution of healthcare, the number of consultations in the experimental and control group and per discipline will be measured.
These data will be derived from the electronic medical records.
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18 months
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Patient characteristics (composite)
Periodo de tiempo: 18 months
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Patient characteristics of patients seen in the experimental and control group and per discipline include age, gender, urgency and type of complaint.
These data will be derived from the electronic medical records.
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18 months
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Medidas de resultado secundarias
Medida de resultado |
Medida Descripción |
Periodo de tiempo |
|---|---|---|
|
The number of prescriptions; number of test & investigations ordered and referral to the emergency department
Periodo de tiempo: 18 months
|
The performance of the two conditions as well as the disciplines will be measures by number of prescriptions; number of test & investigations ordered and referral to the emergency department.
These data will be derived from the electronic medical records.
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18 months
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Direct healthcare costs related to care provide by PAs and GPs will be calculated.
Periodo de tiempo: 18 months
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Costs related to care provided in the experimental and control group, and per discipline will be calculated, including number of consultations, resource use, referrals, and prescriptions.
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18 months
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Adherence to the practice guidelines for General Practitioners
Periodo de tiempo: 6 months
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Adherence of the PA to the practice guidelines for General Practitioners will be measured by video recordings of in total 30 consultations/visits of the PA.
Two independent General Practitioners will score the adherence by a list of indicators.
Outcomes will be compared by scores of GPs and Nurse Practitioners (measured in previous research).
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6 months
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Amount of adverse events and complications
Periodo de tiempo: 18 months
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The amount of adverse events and complications will be recorded, as well as complaints by the patients.
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18 months
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Patient satisfaction questionaire
Periodo de tiempo: 6 months
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Patient satisfaction will be measured using an abridgment of the CQ-index questionnaire.
During the intervention period 200 questionnaires will be sent to patients who had either a consult with the PA or with the GP at the out-of-hours primary care service.
Results will be compared with results on the CQ-index of the GP and NP (measured in previous research)
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6 months
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Knowledge test concerning frequently presented complaints
Periodo de tiempo: 1 month
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Knowledge of PAs will be measured with regard to a number of frequently presented complaints by using a knowledge test.
Results are compared with the results on the knowledge test of GPs and NPs (measured in previous research).
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1 month
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Colaboradores e Investigadores
Aquí es donde encontrará personas y organizaciones involucradas en este estudio.
Patrocinador
Fechas de registro del estudio
Estas fechas rastrean el progreso del registro del estudio y los envíos de resultados resumidos a ClinicalTrials.gov. Los registros del estudio y los resultados informados son revisados por la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina (NLM) para asegurarse de que cumplan con los estándares de control de calidad específicos antes de publicarlos en el sitio web público.
Fechas importantes del estudio
Inicio del estudio
1 de abril de 2014
Finalización primaria (Actual)
1 de enero de 2016
Finalización del estudio (Actual)
1 de enero de 2016
Fechas de registro del estudio
Enviado por primera vez
31 de marzo de 2015
Primero enviado que cumplió con los criterios de control de calidad
10 de abril de 2015
Publicado por primera vez (Estimar)
15 de abril de 2015
Actualizaciones de registros de estudio
Última actualización publicada (Estimar)
7 de abril de 2016
Última actualización enviada que cumplió con los criterios de control de calidad
6 de abril de 2016
Última verificación
1 de abril de 2016
Más información
Términos relacionados con este estudio
Palabras clave
Términos MeSH relevantes adicionales
Otros números de identificación del estudio
- PA_in_spoedzorg
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