ArticleHealth affairs scholar2023
Medical advice lines offering on-demand access to providers reduced emergency department visits.
Article in Health affairs scholar, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 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
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Clinician Experiences With Tele-Emergency Care: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Remote triage and virtual urgent care services: A qualitative assessment of factors that impact triage decisions and outcomes.Journal of telemedicine and telecare · 2026Article
- Bridging Gaps in Acute Care Access for Rural Veterans: The Reach and Impact of VA's Virtual Emergency and Urgent Care Programs.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026Article
- Regional Virtual Acute Care Helpline in Singapore at a National University Health System Virtual Care Centre: Retrospective Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Acute Care Use and Mortality by Tele-Emergency Care Use, Modality, and Clinician Type.JAMA network open · 2026Observational
- Factors Associated With Veterans Use of Community vs VA Emergency Departments.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Veteran Experiences and Satisfaction With Veterans Affairs Call Centers' Tele-Triage and Virtual Urgent Care Appointments: Qualitative Evaluation.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Emergency Department Utilization by Veterans for Low-Acuity Conditions After Virtual Care Expansion.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the performance of telephone triage service.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
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.
Funding
Abstract
Instant access to clinicians through virtual care is designed to allow patients to receive care they need while avoiding high-cost visits in acute-care settings. This study investigates the effect of offering patients the option to instantly connect with emergency care providers instead of being referred to the emergency department (ED) following calls to a medical advice line. We used a staggered rollout design to assess the effects of implementing this program on key outcomes among Veterans Affairs enrollees. Analyzing over 1 million calls from 2019 to 2022, we found that access to a provider reduced the proportion of patients who subsequently visited the ED compared with those with access to the standard medical advice line (38% vs 36%). There was no significant difference observed in subsequent inpatient admissions or 30-day mortality. We found that a majority of callers (65%) achieved issue resolution or were directed to lower acuity settings for further evaluation. Although substantial direct cost savings were not evident, our findings demonstrate that on-demand access to a virtual provider can effectively decrease ED visits.
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.