Patient house calls in Attica and Thessaloniki, Greece (2005-2015): a model for out-of-hospital multispecialty emergency medicine

Theocharis, George; Barbas, S. G.; Spiropoulos, T.; Stamouli, Petroula E.; Perdikis, Dimitrios; Falagas, Matthew E.

doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3111-0

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…1). Of these, there were two qualitative studies, 25,26 10 questionnaire surveys 12,14,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]31 and two review articles. 5,29 Additionally, one review article 27 and one questionnaire survey 31 had only their abstracts available.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes, perceptions and practice patterns of primary care practitioners towards house calls

Soh

Low

2018

J Prim Health Care

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INTRODUCTION Historically, doctors routinely delivered medical care to sick patients in their homes, with house calls accounting for 40% of all doctor–patient encounters in the 1940s. This proportion has dwindled to less than 1% today. Advantages of house calls include decreased mortality rates, admissions to long-term care in the general elderly population and increased patient appreciation. Therefore, we asked ‘Why do some primary care practitioners do house calls and what are the reasons that others do not?’. AIM This review aims to understand the attitudes, perceptions of Primary Care Practitioners (PCPs) towards house calls and their practice patterns. METHODS A search of PubMed and Embase was conducted for articles published before 31 December 2017. A total of 531 articles with 44 duplicates was generated. Of these, 13 were shortlisted along with three hand-searched articles for a total of 16 articles included in this review. RESULTS Primary care providers were aware of the role of house calls and their advantages in enabling comprehensive care for a patient. They saw making house calls as a responsibility with rewards that enhanced the doctor–patient relationship. However, opportunity cost, time, medical liability and miscellaneous reasons such as the lack of training precluded some PCPs from making more house calls. DISCUSSION Primary care practitioners recognise the importance of house calls, especially in the care of elderly patients, but there are many unaddressed issues such as opportunity cost and clinical inadequacy in the home setting that have caused a decline in house calls over the years.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes, perceptions and practice patterns of primary care practitioners towards house calls

Soh

Low

2018

J Prim Health Care

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“…The most common medical condition was lower and upper respiratory tract infection (19.4%), followed by cardiovascular diseases (10.3%), musculoskeletal (9.1%), gastrointestinal (6.3%), and neurological disorders (3.7%). 6 , 8 According to the current data, the elderly and female patients requested more house calls than male and younger patients and most of the phone calls were performed between 4 and 12 pm . 6 , 8 …”

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confidence: 91%

“… 6 , 8 According to the current data, the elderly and female patients requested more house calls than male and younger patients and most of the phone calls were performed between 4 and 12 pm . 6 , 8 …”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Moreover, “SOS Doctors” or similar organizations may provide substantial support to primary care. Data from a retrospective analysis, 8 conducted between January 2005 and December 2015, regarding the demand of physician house calls in Greece, showed that despite the ongoing economic crisis, the request of house calls was not decreased. Specifically, during an 11-year period, “SOS Doctors” performed 335 123 house calls.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The integration of radiology in the provided services of “SOS Doctors” led to an increasing demand, starting at 352 calls and reaching 2230 calls during a 6-year period (2009-2016). 8 …”

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confidence: 99%

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A Model for Out-of-Hospital Multispecialty Emergency Medicine: Accomplishments and Challenges

Theocharis¹,

Kechagias

Oikonomou³

et al. 2018

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Home care has been traditionally considered as an important type of medical service. “SOS Doctors” is a Greek organization providing out-of-hospital multispecialty emergency medicine services the past 25 years. Its services mainly meet the demands of the elderly and the nonambulatory patients. The decreased number of hospitalizations, hospital-related infections, and need for patient transportation are the main advantages of a model for out-of-hospital multispecialty emergency medicine. However, the time consumed by the doctor related to transportation is a drawback of medical house calls. Despite the challenges, medical house calls are a useful part of health services in the modern health care system.

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Pre- and post-home visit behaviors after using after-hours house call (AHHC) medical services: a questionnaire-based survey in Tokyo, Japan

et al. 2021

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Background After-hours house call (AHHC) medical services have been implemented in Japan to reduce ambulance use, as well as overcrowding at the emergency department (ED). Examining the pre-and post-home visit behaviors of those using AHHC medical services will provide insights into the usefulness of these services and help develop strategies to reduce ED visits and ambulance use further. Methods This questionnaire-based study used data from anonymized medical records and internet-based questionnaires completed by patients who used AHHC medical services in Tokyo, Japan, between January 1 and December 31, 2019. The questionnaire comprised two questions: (1) What action would the patient have taken in the absence of AHHC services and (2) what action was taken within 3 days following the use of the AHHC services. In addition, following home consultations, AHHC doctors classified the patient’s illness severity as mild (treatable with over-the-counter medications), moderate (requires hospital or clinic visit), or severe (requires ambulance transportation). Results Of the 15,787 patients who used AHHC medical services during the study period, 2128 completed the questionnaire (13.5% response rate). Individuals aged ≤15 years and 16–64 years were the most common users of AHHC services (≤15 years, 71.4%; 16–64 years, 26.8%). Before using the AHHC service, 46.4% of the total respondents reported that they would have visited an ED had AHHC services not been available (≤15 years, 47.8%; 16–64 years, 42.8%; ≥65 years, 43.6%). The proportion of patients originally planning to call an ambulance was higher among those in the older age groups (≤15 years, 1.1%; 16–64 years, 6.0%; ≥65 years, 20.5%). After using the AHHC services, most patients (68.1%) did not visit a hospital within 3 days; however, the proportion of patients who visited an ED and called an ambulance within 3 days increased with the severity of illness. Conclusions Increasing AHHC medical services awareness among older adults and patients assessed as having severe illnesses regularly availing of AHHC services may help reduce ED visits and ambulance use.

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Patient house calls in Attica and Thessaloniki, Greece (2005-2015): a model for out-of-hospital multispecialty emergency medicine

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Attitudes, perceptions and practice patterns of primary care practitioners towards house calls

Attitudes, perceptions and practice patterns of primary care practitioners towards house calls

A Model for Out-of-Hospital Multispecialty Emergency Medicine: Accomplishments and Challenges

Pre- and post-home visit behaviors after using after-hours house call (AHHC) medical services: a questionnaire-based survey in Tokyo, Japan

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