The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol
Background: Waiting time and costs from referral to day case outpatient surgery are at an unacceptably high level. The waiting time in Norway averages 240 days for common surgical conditions. Furthermore, in North Norway the population is scattered throughout a large geographic area, making the cost...
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/2142 2024-06-02T08:11:50+00:00 The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol Augestad, Knut Magne Revhaug, Arthur Vonen, Barthold Johnsen, Roar Lindsetmo, Rolv-Ole 2008-08-11 603167 bytes application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10037/2142 eng eng BioMed Central BMC Surgery 2008, 8:14 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/2142 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_1893 openAccess VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Clinical medical disciplines: 750::General surgery: 780 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel 2008 ftunivtroemsoe 2024-05-07T08:41:49Z Background: Waiting time and costs from referral to day case outpatient surgery are at an unacceptably high level. The waiting time in Norway averages 240 days for common surgical conditions. Furthermore, in North Norway the population is scattered throughout a large geographic area, making the cost of travel to a specialist examination before surgery considerable. Electronic standardised referrals and booking of day case outpatient surgery by GPs are possible through the National Health Network, which links all health care providers in an electronic network. New ways of using this network might reduce the waiting time and cost of outpatient day case surgery. Materials and Methods: In a randomised controlled trial, selected patients (inguinal hernia, gallstone disease and pilonidal sinus) referred to the university hospital are either randomised to direct electronic referral and booking for outpatient surgery (one stop), or to the traditional patient pathway where all patients are seen at the outpatient clinic several weeks ahead of surgery. Consultants in gastrointestinal surgery designed standardised referral forms and guidelines. New software has been designed making it possible to implement referral forms, guidelines and patient information in the GP's electronic health record. For "one-stop" referral, GPs must provide mandatory information about the specific condition. Referrals were linked to a booking system, enabling the GPs to book the hospital, day and time for outpatient surgery. The primary endpoints are waiting time and costs. The sample size calculation was based on waiting time. A reduction in waiting time of 60 days (effect size), 25%, is significant, resulting in a sample size of 120 patients in total. Discussion: Poor communication between primary and secondary care often results in inefficiencies and unsatisfactory outcomes. We hypothesised that standardised referrals would improve the quality of information, making it feasible to use a one-stop approach for all patients undergoing surgery on ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Norway University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Norway |
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University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
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ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
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VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Clinical medical disciplines: 750::General surgery: 780 |
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VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Clinical medical disciplines: 750::General surgery: 780 Augestad, Knut Magne Revhaug, Arthur Vonen, Barthold Johnsen, Roar Lindsetmo, Rolv-Ole The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol |
topic_facet |
VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Clinical medical disciplines: 750::General surgery: 780 |
description |
Background: Waiting time and costs from referral to day case outpatient surgery are at an unacceptably high level. The waiting time in Norway averages 240 days for common surgical conditions. Furthermore, in North Norway the population is scattered throughout a large geographic area, making the cost of travel to a specialist examination before surgery considerable. Electronic standardised referrals and booking of day case outpatient surgery by GPs are possible through the National Health Network, which links all health care providers in an electronic network. New ways of using this network might reduce the waiting time and cost of outpatient day case surgery. Materials and Methods: In a randomised controlled trial, selected patients (inguinal hernia, gallstone disease and pilonidal sinus) referred to the university hospital are either randomised to direct electronic referral and booking for outpatient surgery (one stop), or to the traditional patient pathway where all patients are seen at the outpatient clinic several weeks ahead of surgery. Consultants in gastrointestinal surgery designed standardised referral forms and guidelines. New software has been designed making it possible to implement referral forms, guidelines and patient information in the GP's electronic health record. For "one-stop" referral, GPs must provide mandatory information about the specific condition. Referrals were linked to a booking system, enabling the GPs to book the hospital, day and time for outpatient surgery. The primary endpoints are waiting time and costs. The sample size calculation was based on waiting time. A reduction in waiting time of 60 days (effect size), 25%, is significant, resulting in a sample size of 120 patients in total. Discussion: Poor communication between primary and secondary care often results in inefficiencies and unsatisfactory outcomes. We hypothesised that standardised referrals would improve the quality of information, making it feasible to use a one-stop approach for all patients undergoing surgery on ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Augestad, Knut Magne Revhaug, Arthur Vonen, Barthold Johnsen, Roar Lindsetmo, Rolv-Ole |
author_facet |
Augestad, Knut Magne Revhaug, Arthur Vonen, Barthold Johnsen, Roar Lindsetmo, Rolv-Ole |
author_sort |
Augestad, Knut Magne |
title |
The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol |
title_short |
The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol |
title_full |
The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol |
title_fullStr |
The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol |
title_full_unstemmed |
The One-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (GPs) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? A randomized controlled trial protocol |
title_sort |
one-stop trial : does electronic referral and booking by the general practitioner (gps) to outpatient day case surgery reduce waiting time and costs? a randomized controlled trial protocol |
publisher |
BioMed Central |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/2142 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
North Norway |
genre_facet |
North Norway |
op_relation |
BMC Surgery 2008, 8:14 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/2142 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_1893 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
_version_ |
1800758100841463808 |