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Triage Liaison Physician - Evaluation of a Novel Approach to Address Emergency Department Overcrowding

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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00435890
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : February 16, 2007
Last Update Posted : September 12, 2008
Sponsor:
Information provided by:
University of Alberta

Study Description
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Brief Summary:
This randomized controlled trial will introduce a triage liaison physician (TLP) into the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department (ED) and assess the influence on patients who leave without being seen, ED length of stay, and other ED Overcrowding outcomes.

Condition or disease Intervention/treatment Phase
Acute Illness Behavioral: Triage Liaison Physician Phase 4

Detailed Description:
ED Overcrowding is a significant cause of delayed care, patient dissatisfaction, and poor outcomes in North American EDs. This intervention has not been widely studied; however, it represents an opportunity for improving patient flows in EDs.
Study Design
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Study Type : Interventional  (Clinical Trial)
Actual Enrollment : 5718 participants
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Official Title: Randomized Controlled Trial of a Liaison Physician at the Triage Desk to Reduce Emergency Department Overcrowding and Improve Patient Flow.
Study Start Date : December 2005
Actual Primary Completion Date : February 2006
Actual Study Completion Date : June 2006
Arms and Interventions
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Arm Intervention/treatment
No Intervention: 1
No triage liaison physician
 Behavioral: Triage Liaison Physician
triage liaison physician stationed with nurses at the triage desk of the Emergency Department.


Outcome Measures
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Primary Outcome Measures :
  1. Median patient length of stay [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ]

Secondary Outcome Measures :
  1. Left without being seen [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ]
  2. ambulance turnaround times [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ]
  3. satisfaction (physicians and nurses) [ Time Frame: following their Emergency Department shift ]
  4. TLP activity [ Time Frame: while in the Emergency Department ]

Eligibility Criteria
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Ages Eligible for Study:   17 Years and older   (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
Sexes Eligible for Study:   All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Only adult patients (> 17 years of age) presenting to the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department (UAH ED), during the study interval will be included in the evaluation.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Direct admits/Pediatric patients.
Contacts and Locations
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Information from the National Library of Medicine

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00435890


Locations
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Canada, Alberta
University of Alberta Hospital
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of Alberta
Investigators
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Study Director: Brian H Rowe, MD University of Alberta
More Information
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Publications:

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Responsible Party: Brian Holroyd, University of Alberta
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00435890    
Other Study ID Numbers: B-091105
First Posted: February 16, 2007    Key Record Dates
Last Update Posted: September 12, 2008
Last Verified: September 2008
Keywords provided by University of Alberta:
ED Overcrowding
Length of stay
Emergency triage
triage
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
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Emergencies
Disease Attributes
Pathologic Processes