The Burden of Inappropriate Emergency Department Pediatric Visits: Why Italy Needs an Urgent Reform
Open Access
- 5 February 2014
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Health Services Research
- Vol. 49 (4), 1290-1305
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12161
Abstract
To better understand the issue of inappropriate pediatric Emergency Department (ED) visits in Italy, including the impact of the last National Health System reform. A retrospective cohort study was conducted with five health care providers in the Veneto region (Italy) in a 2-year period (2010-2011). ED visits were considered "inappropriate" by evaluating both nursing triage and resource utilization, as addressed by the Italian Ministry of Health in 2007. Factors associated with inappropriate ED visits were identified. The cost of each visit was calculated. In total, 134,358 ED visits with 455,650 performed procedures were recorded in the 2-year period; of these, 76,680 (57.1 percent) were considered inappropriate ED visits. Patients likely to make inappropriate ED visits were younger, female, visiting the ED during night or holiday, when the primary care provider (PCP) is not available. The National Health System reform aims to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and costs by opening PCP offices 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This study highlights the need for a deep reorganization of the Italian Primary Care System not only providing a larger time availability but also treating the parents' lack of education on children's health.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Determinants of nonurgent use of the emergency department for pediatric patients in 12 hospitals in BelgiumEuropean Journal of Pediatrics, 2012
- Patients Who Leave Without Being Seen in Emergency Departments: An Analysis of Predictive Factors and OutcomesAcademic Emergency Medicine, 2012
- Reasons for Nonurgent Pediatric Emergency Department VisitsPediatric Emergency Care, 2012
- Leaving the paediatric emergency department without being seen: Understanding the patient and the risksJournal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2011
- A Population-based Study of the Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Emergency Department Utilization in Ontario, CanadaAcademic Emergency Medicine, 2011
- Utilization of Emergency Department in Patients With Non-urgent Medical Problems: Patient Preference and Emergency Department ConvenienceJournal of the Formosan Medical Association, 2010
- Primary paediatric care models and non-urgent Emergency Department utilization: an area-based cohort studyBMC Family Practice, 2010
- National Profile of Nonemergent Pediatric Emergency Department VisitsPEDIATRICS, 2010
- Why non-urgent patients choose emergency over primary care services? Empirical evidence and managerial implicationsHealth Policy, 2008
- Demand for emergency health service: factors associated with inappropriate useBMC Health Services Research, 2007