The (Cost-)Effectiveness of Nurse Practitioners Working at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service

NCT ID: NCT01388374

Last Updated: 2015-04-22

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

12092 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2010-12-31

Study Completion Date

2012-10-31

Brief Summary

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The aim of this study is to explore whether the implementation of Nurse Practitioners can lead to a more accessible and efficient patient care at the primary out of hours service.

The primary objectives of the proposed study are:

1. What are the effects of the implementation of NPs on the primary out of hours service in comparison with the current out of hours service? Effects in terms of accessibility, objective and subjective workload of general practitioners, quality of care and patient satisfaction.
2. How efficient is the implementation of NPs in the primary out of hours services?
3. What is the feasibility of the implementation of NPs in the out of hours services? And under which conditions?
4. What are the barriers and facilitating factors considering the implementation of NPs?

Detailed Description

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The emergency care and primary out of hours care in the Netherlands is under pressure. There is a rising demand from patients for acute care at the primary out of hours service (run by General Practitioners) as well as for the emergency departments (EDs) at the hospitals. The workload for healthcare professionals in these acute care setting is high. Without changes in the organization of primary out of hours care and emergency care, the quality, accessibility and efficiency of the acute care can't be guaranteed in the future.

The substitution of care from General Practitioners (GPs) to Nurse Practitioners (NPs) is seen as one possible solution to decrease the GPs' workload and improve accessibility and efficiency of care without reducing the quality of care.

It turned out that about 80% of the acute complaints is U3 and U4 (low complex and not urgent) and does not necessarily to be seen by a physician.

Based on previous research we expect that the NPs are competent to diagnose and treat almost all low complex and not urgent complaints. During surgery hours (day time) the NPs act in about 90% of the consultations independently.

Hypothetical substitution of care should contribute to enhancing quality, improving accessibility and reducing the workload of doctors. It can also benefit the efficiency of the acute (primary out of hours) care.

However, specific scientific evidence for this is lacking.

In this study we examine whether substitution of care from GPs to NPs in a primary out of hours care setting can contribute to a more accessible and efficient patient care. Also the feasibility of implementing NPs in a primary our of hours setting is examined.

Comparison: Care provided by the Nurse Practitioner will be compared to care provided by a General Practitioner.

Conditions

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Out of Hours Medical Care Primary Health Care

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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General Practitioners Care

Usual medical care provided by a general practitioner at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Nurse Practitioners Care

Medical care provided by the Nurse Practitioner at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Other, care provided by Nurse Practitioners

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients will receive care at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service by a Nurse Practitioner instead of a General Practitioner (substitution of care from physicians to nurses).

Interventions

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Other, care provided by Nurse Practitioners

Patients will receive care at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service by a Nurse Practitioner instead of a General Practitioner (substitution of care from physicians to nurses).

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Patients (with urgency U2, U3, or U4) requesting an appointment at the primary out of hours emergency service during the weekend between 10.00 and 17.00 hours.

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients under the age of 1 year
* Patients with psychiatric complaints
* Patients with abdominal pain, abdominal infections, chest pain or neck complaints (angina pectoris), headache and dizziness.
Minimum Eligible Age

1 Year

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Radboud University Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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M.G.H. Laurant, Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

IQ healthcare, UMC St Radboud

Locations

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Centrale Huisartsen Post (CHP)

Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands

Site Status

Countries

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Netherlands

References

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Van Der Biezen M, Adang E, Van Der Burgt R, Wensing M, Laurant M. The impact of substituting general practitioners with nurse practitioners on resource use, production and health-care costs during out-of-hours: a quasi-experimental study. BMC Fam Pract. 2016 Sep 13;17(1):132. doi: 10.1186/s12875-016-0528-6.

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Related Links

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http://www.iqhealthcare.nl/ContentFront/ContentProjects/ProjectsMain.aspx?projectId=411

Projectdescription and dutch documentation related to the project

Other Identifiers

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80-82800-98-227

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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