Observational studyBMJ open2019
Testing quality indicators and proposing benchmarks for physician-staffed emergency medical services: a prospective Nordic multicentre study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessment of clinical and logistical contribution in a Norwegian helicopter emergency medical service using integrated data: a retrospective observational study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026Observational
- Introducing an on-site Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) physician at the Emergency Medical Communication Centre - implications for dispatch precision at a Norwegian HEMS base.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Post-mission debriefs in helicopter emergency medicine services- introducing "The compassionate debrief".Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Long-term effects of a prehospital telemedicine system on structural and process quality indicators of an emergency medical service.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Observational
- The introduction of a regional Norwegian HEMS coordinator: an assessment of the effects on response times, geographical service areas and severity scores.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Dispatch accuracy of physician-staffed emergency medical services in trauma care in south-east Norway: a retrospective observational study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2021Observational
- Analgesia in adult trauma patients in physician-staffed Austrian helicopter rescue: a 12-year registry analysis.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2021Observational
- Mortality and quality of care in Nordic physician-staffed emergency medical services.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2020Observational
- The first seven years of nationally organized helicopter emergency medical services in Finland - the data from quality registry.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesA consensus study from 2017 developed 15 response-specific quality indicators (QIs) for physician-staffed emergency medical services (P-EMS). The aim of this study was to test these QIs for important characteristics in a real clinical setting. These characteristics were feasibility, rankability, variability, actionability and documentation. We further aimed to propose benchmarks for future quality measurements in P-EMS.
designIn this prospective observational study, physician-staffed helicopter emergency services registered data for the 15 QIs. The feasibility of the QIs was assessed based on the comments of the recording physicians. The other four QI characteristics were assessed by the authors. Benchmarks were proposed based on the quartiles in the dataset.
settingNordic physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical services.
participants16 physician-staffed helicopter emergency services in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
resultsThe dataset consists of 5638 requests to the participating P-EMSs. There were 2814 requests resulting in completed responses with patient contact. All QIs were feasible to obtain. The variability of 14 out of 15 QIs was adequate. Rankability was adequate for all QIs. Actionability was assessed as being adequate for 10 QIs. Documentation was adequate for 14 QIs. Benchmarks for all QIs were proposed.
conclusionsAll 15 QIs seem possible to use in everyday quality measurement and improvement. However, it seems reasonable to not analyse the QI 'Adverse Events' with a strictly quantitative approach because of a low rate of adverse events. Rather, this QI should be used to identify adverse events so that they can be analysed as sentinel events. The actionability of the QIs 'Able to respond immediately when alarmed', 'Time to arrival of P-EMS', 'Time to preferred destination', 'Provision of advanced treatment' and 'Significant logistical contribution' was assessed as being poor. Benchmarks for the QIs and a total quality score are proposed for future quality measurements.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.