Telephone Triage Study

Any Medical Condition Presented by Patient Clinical Trial

Official title:

Outcome Evaluation of Triage for Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Patients Performed by Doctors in a Medical Telemedicine Center

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00222001
• Other study ID #: MS-001-2002
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: September 15, 2005
• Last updated: January 27, 2015
• Start date: December 2002
• Est. completion date: December 2004

Study information

• Verified date: January 2015
• Source: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Switzerland: Ethikkommission
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The advance of communication technology has changed medical practice. The concept of medical telemedicine centers receiving, assessing and managing calls from patients or their carers on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis is spreading in the US as well as in European countries. Usually specially trained nurses using dedicated decision support software provide the service. One aspect is the so-called triage, i.e. the decision on urgency and optimal treatment path of a stated medical problem, which has the potential to contain overall treatment costs.

Despite proliferation of these services, little is known about the quality of the services provided.

In October 2000 the first 24-hour medical telemedicine centre staffed by medical doctors started operating in Switzerland. The aims of this study are to assess the quality of service provided by doctors using decision support software and to determine potential predictors of incorrect triage.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: December 2004
• Est. primary completion date: December 2004
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult

• Insured with HMO Basel

• Patient of HMO practise Sternengasse

• First call to Medgate for a given medical problem

• Call is a telephone triage

• Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Any Medical Condition Presented by Patient

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Switzerland	Medgate	Basel
Switzerland	University Hospital Basel	Basel

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland	HMO Gesundheitsplan Basel, Switzerland, Medgate AG, Switzerland

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Switzerland, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Correctness of triage decision		3 Months	No