Triage Liaison Physician - Evaluation of a Novel Approach to Address Emergency Department Overcrowding

Acute Illness Clinical Trial

Official title:

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Liaison Physician at the Triage Desk to Reduce Emergency Department Overcrowding and Improve Patient Flow.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00435890
• Other study ID #: B-091105
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• First received: February 15, 2007
• Last updated: September 11, 2008
• Start date: December 2005
• Est. completion date: June 2006

Study information

• Verified date: September 2008
• Source: University of Alberta
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Canada: Ethics Review Committee
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This randomized controlled trial will introduce a triage liaison physician (TLP) into the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department (ED) and assess the influence on patients who leave without being seen, ED length of stay, and other ED Overcrowding outcomes.

Description:

ED Overcrowding is a significant cause of delayed care, patient dissatisfaction, and poor outcomes in North American EDs. This intervention has not been widely studied; however, it represents an opportunity for improving patient flows in EDs.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 5718
• Est. completion date: June 2006
• Est. primary completion date: February 2006
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 17 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Only adult patients (> 17 years of age) presenting to the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department (UAH ED), during the study interval will be included in the evaluation.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Direct admits/Pediatric patients.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Health Services Research

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Acute Illness
• Emergencies

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Triage Liaison Physician
triage liaison physician stationed with nurses at the triage desk of the Emergency Department.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	University of Alberta Hospital	Edmonton	Alberta

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Alberta

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

References & Publications (1)

Holroyd BR, Bullard MJ, Latoszek K, Gordon D, Allen S, Tam S, Blitz S, Yoon P, Rowe BH. Impact of a triage liaison physician on emergency department overcrowding and throughput: a randomized controlled trial. Acad Emerg Med. 2007 Aug;14(8):702-8. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Median patient length of stay		while in the Emergency Department	No
Secondary	Left without being seen		while in the Emergency Department	Yes
Secondary	ambulance turnaround times		while in the Emergency Department	No
Secondary	satisfaction (physicians and nurses)		following their Emergency Department shift	No
Secondary	TLP activity		while in the Emergency Department	No