Telefone Triage Study - Full Text View

Purpose

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.

Condition

Any Medical Condition Presented by Patient

U.S. FDA Resources

Study Type:	Observational
Study Design:	Natural History, Cross-Sectional, Defined Population, Prospective Study

Official Title:	Outcome Evaluation of Triage for HMO Patients Performed by Doctors in a Medical Telemedicine Center

Further study details as provided by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland:

Estimated Enrollment:	100
Study Start Date:	December 2002
Estimated Study Completion Date:	June 2003

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	18 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Adult
Insured with HMO Basel
Patient of HMO practise Sternerngasse
First call to Medgate for a given medical problem
Call is a telephone triage
Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

none

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00222001

Sponsors and Collaborators

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Medgate AG, Switzerland

HMO Gesundheitsplan Basel, Switzerland

Investigators


Principal Investigator:	Serge O Reichlin, MD	University Hospital Basle and Medgate AG

More Information

Study ID Numbers:	MS-001-2002
First Received:	September 15, 2005
Last Updated:	December 28, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00222001
Health Authority:	Switzerland: Governments of the cantons Basle-Town and Basle-Country

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on October 03, 2008

Sponsors and Collaborators:	University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland Medgate AG, Switzerland HMO Gesundheitsplan Basel, Switzerland
Information provided by:	University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00222001