Greater Southern Area Health Service, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia.
Med J Aust. 2010 Apr 19;192(8):448-51. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03583.x.
To assess the impact of the opening of an after-hours general practice clinic on the number of daily low-urgency presentations to the nearby emergency department.
DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Retrospective time series analysis of emergency presentation data, from the New South Wales Health Emergency Department Information System, for all patients presenting to the emergency department of Wagga Wagga Base Hospital between January 1998 and October 2008.
Daily emergency department presentations, before and after the March 2003 opening of the after-hours clinic, of patients triaged as Australasian Triage Scale (ATS) category 4 or 5 (at any time of day, and during the hours of operation of the clinic), and of patients triaged as ATS category 1, 2 or 3 (at any time of day).
After adjusting for long-term trends and weekly and annual cycles, the opening of the after-hours clinic was associated with a daily reduction of 7.04 patients (95% CI, 5.39-8.70) in emergency department presentations with an ATS category of 4 or 5. This represented an 8.2% reduction in total presentations (95% CI, 6.2%-10.2%). Presentations of ATS category 1, 2 or 3 patients rose by 1.36 patients a day (95% CI, 0.36-2.35), representing 1.6% of total presentations (95% CI, 0.4%-2.7%). The impact of the after-hours clinic was best modelled by a gradual permanent change.
An after-hours general practice clinic was associated with a reduction in low-urgency presentations to the emergency department in Wagga Wagga.
评估夜间全科诊所开业对附近急诊部门每日低紧急就诊人数的影响。
设计、参与者和设置：对 1998 年 1 月至 2008 年 10 月期间新南威尔士州卫生急诊部信息系统中所有在沃加沃加基地医院急诊部就诊的患者的急诊就诊数据进行回顾性时间序列分析。
在夜间诊所于 2003 年 3 月开业前后，按照澳大利亚分诊量表（ATS）类别 4 或 5 （每天任何时间，以及诊所营业时间内）分诊的患者以及按照 ATS 类别 1、2 或 3 （每天任何时间）分诊的患者的每日急诊就诊人数。
在调整长期趋势、每周和每年周期后，夜间诊所的开业与 ATS 类别 4 或 5 的急诊就诊人数每天减少 7.04 人（95%CI，5.39-8.70）相关。这代表总就诊人数减少了 8.2%（95%CI，6.2%-10.2%）。ATS 类别 1、2 或 3 的患者就诊人数每天增加 1.36 人（95%CI，0.36-2.35），占总就诊人数的 1.6%（95%CI，0.4%-2.7%）。夜间诊所的影响通过逐渐的永久性变化得到最佳建模。
夜间全科诊所的开设与沃加沃加急诊部门低紧急就诊人数的减少有关。
