Exploring the measure of potentially avoidable general practitioner-type presentations to the emergency department in regional Queensland using linked, patient-perspective data.

ConclusionsIdentification of PAGP-type presentations to the ED could be enhanced with improvements to the quality of administrative processes when recording patient 'self-referral to the ED', along with further consideration of hospital site variation for the length of medical consultation time.What is known about the topic?PAGP-type presentations to the ED are an Australian National Healthcare Agreement progress indicator. Methods of measuring this indicator have been under review since 2012 and debate remains on how to accurately determine the measure.What does this paper add?By using patient perspective-linked data to explore different measures of PAGP-type presentations to EDs, this paper identifies issues with measure elements and suggests ways to improve these measures.What are the implications for practitioners?Measure elements of patient 'self-referral to the ED' and 'medical consultation time' require further consideration if they are to be used to measure PAGP-type presentations to the ED. PMID: 33121590 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research