ABC: časopis urgentne medicine (Jan 2017)

The importance of introducing unique criteria for patient referral to hospital treatment

  • Tadić Milorad Ž.,
  • Stanimirović Marijana M.

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 3
pp. 59 – 65

Abstract

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Introduction: Pre-hospital assessment of the patient’s condition differs from the assessment carried out in hospital conditions. In the absence of clearly defined and accepted criteria, a number of factors, along with available medical facts, influence the decision to transport a patient to hospital. Objective: To demonstrate the necessity of introducing specific criteria for deciding which patients should be transferred from the Emergency Medical Service of the Health Center Loznica (EMS HC Loznica) to the Emergency Department of General Hospital Loznica (ED GH Loznica); to analyze the workload of emergency service. Material and methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted by analyzing the protocols from field interventions and ambulatory exams of the EMS HC Loznica, and by analyzing the reception protocols from the ED GH Loznica, during the time period from 1 October, 2016 to 1 March, 2017. Results: During the observed period, 14141 exams (12882 ambulatory exams and 1259 in the field) were conducted by the EMS HC Loznica. 2101 patients (14.86%) were sent to the ED GH Loznica. During the observed period, a total of 4071 patients were examined at the ED GH Loznica. The share of patients sent from the EMS in relation to the total number of patients examined at the ED was 51.61%. 826 of all the examined patients (20.29%) were hospitalized and 81 of them (1.99%) were sent to the health care institution of higher level for definitive treatment. 454 (54,96%) of the total number of patients hospitalized in the GH Loznica were sent from the EMS HC Loznica. Conclusion: The overload of emergency departments is constantly increasing. In order to make the work of all emergency services more efficient, we find it necessary to define standardized protocols for receiving calls, for conducting field interventions and ambulatory examinations, as well as for referring patients to hospital treatment.

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