Measuring the inappropriate utilization of accident and emergency services?
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 1 December 1999
Abstract
Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments are increasingly popular venues for primary care, causing a serious threat to healthcare quality. This paper reports the development of a comprehensive research method for identifying primary care patients attending A&E. Patients were randomly selected from the four A&E departments across different time periods and different regions in Hong Kong. The definition of GP cases was based on a retrospective record review conducted by a panel of emergency physicians using the standard laid down by the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians. The patients sampled were similar in sex and age distribution to A&E attendees for the whole territory. The level of GP cases was found to be 57 per cent, with a significantly higher proportion of patients in the younger age group. The high level of use reflects the lack of a well co‐ordinated development of primary care services and interfacing with secondary care.
Keywords
Citation
Lee, A., Lau, F., Hazlett, C.B., Kam, C., Wong, P., Wong, T. and Chow, S. (1999), "Measuring the inappropriate utilization of accident and emergency services?", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 12 No. 7, pp. 287-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526869910287558
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited