Clinical benefits and risks of emergency departments with or without co-located primary care-driven urgent care centers: A systematic review
Abstract
Background: A significant proportion of patients who visit the emergency department (ED) could be treated at a lower level of care. Urgent Care Center (UCC) are described as a promising remedy for ED crowding.
Objective: The question addressed in this systematic review was: For patients visiting an ED, what are the benefits and risks of EDs with the ability to triage patients to an UCC versus EDs without that capability?
Methods: This systematic review was conducted as part of a health technology assessment (HTA) performed at an HTA-center. The literature search was limited to studies with a control group; both randomized controlled studies and non-randomized controlled studies (including before and after studies) published from the year 2000 onward, in English, Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian were eligible. The outcomes of interest included mortality, serious adverse events, and length of stay (LOS).
Results: No data are available regarding the outcomes deemed critical for decision, mortality and serious adverse events. This systematic review had the ambition to describe the scientific evidence for a specific model of UCCs with a shared triage in the ED. A diversity of interventions, comparators and outcomes in previous studies gives the issue a complexity that is hard to overcome. Based on one retrospective study corresponding to the strict definition of intervention, comparator and outcomes it is uncertain whether EDs with UCCs differ from EDs without UCCs in terms of LOS…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.
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