Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32830108›Full record

Observational studyBMJ health & care informatics2020

Emergency care access to primary care records: an observational study.

Thomas Bowden, David Lyell, Enrico Coiera

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMJ health & care informatics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Thomas BowdenHREC, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia tom@bowden.nz.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2431-4963
David LyellHREC, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Enrico CoieraHREC, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo measure lookup rates of externally held primary care records accessed in emergency care and identify patient characteristics, conditions and potential consequences associated with access. MEASURES: Rates of primary care record access and re-presentation to the emergency department (ED) within 30 days and hospital admission.

designA retrospective observational study of 77 181 ED presentations over 4 years and 9 months, analysing 8184 index presentations in which patients' primary care records were accessed from the ED. Data were compared with 17 449 randomly selected index control presentations. Analysis included propensity score matching for age and triage categories.

results6.3% of overall ED presentations triggered a lookup (rising to 8.3% in year 5); 83.1% of patients were only looked up once and 16.9% of patients looked up on multiple occasions. Lookup patients were on average 25 years older (z=-9.180, p<0.001, r=0.43). Patients with more urgent triage classifications had their records accessed more frequently (z=-36.47, p<0.001, r=0.23). Record access was associated with a significant but negligible increase in hospital admission (χ DISCUSSION: Emergency care clinicians access primary care records more frequently for older patients or those in higher triage categories. Increased levels of inpatient admission and re-presentation within 30 days are likely linked to age and triage categories.

conclusionFurther studies should focus on the impact of record access on clinical and process outcomes and which record elements have the most utility to shape clinical decisions.

Indexed as

Acute DiseaseEmergency Medical ServicesPrimary Health CareAdultAgedDelivery of Health CareElectronic Health RecordsEmergency Service, HospitalHospitalizationHumansMiddle AgedPatient AdmissionPropensity ScoreRetrospective StudiesSeverity of Illness IndexTriagehealth careinformation management

Identifiers

PMID32830108
PMCPMC7445344

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.