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

Sponsored by:	University of Alberta
Information provided by:	University of Alberta
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00435890

Purpose

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.

Condition	Intervention	Phase
Acute Illness	Behavioral: Triage Liaison Physician	Phase IV

U.S. FDA Resources

Study Type:	Interventional
Study Design:	Health Services Research, Randomized, Open Label, Uncontrolled, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
Official Title:	Randomized Controlled Trial of a Liaison Physician at the Triage Desk to Reduce Emergency Department Overcrowding and Improve Patient Flow.

Further study details as provided by University of Alberta:

Primary Outcome Measures:

Median patient length of stay [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:

Left without being seen [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
ambulance turnaround times [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
satisfaction (physicians and nurses) [ Time Frame: following their Emergency Department shift ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
TLP activity [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment:	5718
Study Start Date:	December 2005
Study Completion Date:	June 2006
Primary Completion Date:	February 2006 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

Arms	Assigned Interventions
1: No Intervention No triage liaison physician	Behavioral: Triage Liaison Physician triage liaison physician stationed with nurses at the triage desk of the Emergency Department.

Detailed 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.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	17 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Criteria

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.

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00435890

Locations

Canada, Alberta
University of Alberta Hospital
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7

Sponsors and Collaborators

University of Alberta

Investigators

Study Director:

Brian H Rowe, MD

University of Alberta

More Information

Publications:

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.

Responsible Party:	University of Alberta ( Brian Holroyd )
Study ID Numbers:	B-091105
Study First Received:	February 15, 2007
Last Updated:	September 11, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00435890
Health Authority:	Canada: Ethics Review Committee

Keywords provided by University of Alberta:

ED Overcrowding
Length of stay
Emergency triage
triage

Study placed in the following topic categories:

Emergencies

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Disease Attributes
Pathologic Processes

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on January 13, 2009