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Out of Hours

Out of Hours

The scenario

It’s late at night. A mother in a rural town is worried about her eight year old daughter’s earache. She needs advice but it’s late and she cannot call her GP. She calls her local surgery where the call is diverted to the Clinical Solutions GP Assist nurse triage centre. A registered nurse answers and with the help of the integrated Teleguide™ Algorithms (clinical decision support software) she is able to offer advice and reassure the worried mother who is told to call back at any time during the night if the child becomes more unwell. The GP remains undisturbed overnight and receives a report on arrival in the office in the morning.

The solution

GP’s, especially in more rural areas, are in short supply and often overworked. There is evidence to show that the pressure of after hours work on GPs and their families is a key reason for doctors leaving rural areas. Nevertheless, patients can not always tell if their problem requires immediate medical attention, can wait until the next day, or even be easily managed at home. Patients should never be discouraged from seeking medical advice because they don’t know where to turn and access to prompt medical advice is essential.

Clinical Solutions GP Assist serves over 500,000 citizens in Tasmania giving them 24 hour access to medical professionals and allowing GPs to divert their after hours calls to the dedicated nurse triage centre. A registered nurse, using our market leading decision support software advises the patient on the best course of action to take for their problem. There is also a triage doctor available to advise where necessary. If it is deemed necessary that the patient needs to be seen, the centre contacts the local on-call GP to refer the case and the patient receives the medical attention they need. The patients’ GP can rest assured that their patients are being looked after 24 hours a day.

The solution offers a simple and efficient streaming process that allows calls to be taken by the out of hours service, to quickly determine the nature and severity of the callers needs. Based upon a sophisticated and customisable routing protocol, the call is then passed to the most appropriate health professional.

With the application’s integrated Teleguide™ Algorithms, staff nurses are able to quickly triage callers’ symptoms and advise on the best course of action, whether it be ambulance, A&E or dispatching a GP or other service. Through its open interfaces the solution will easily adapt to use other triage services and seamlessly transfer patient data.

Experience has shown that more than 80% of calls can be handled by Clinical Solutions GP Assist without disturbing the local GP - significantly reducing the burden of after hours work for the GP and helping to deliver a more effective, efficient and accessible after hours service.

Related link

http://www.gpat.com.au/

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