24-hour access hospital outpatient clinics for patients with exacerbation of chronic conditions

2021.06.09 | Graduate School of Health

On Tuesday 29 June at 13:00, Anders Damgaard Møller Schlünsen defends his PhD dissertation entitled "Acute exacerbation of chronic conditions: Evaluation of an inter sectorial intervention to integrate and optimise treatment and follow-up".

A 24-h telephone access hospital outpatient clinic has been proposed as a way to integrate care for patients in long-term hospital outpatient follow-up. Thus far, studies have shown promising results in terms of reduced healthcare utilisation. However, the past studies have been characterised by poor methodological robustness. This PhD project is the first to investigate effectivness of a 24-hour outpatient clinic in a controlled study design.

In 2015, the hospital, general practitioners and the municipality in Silkeborg, Denmark, introduced a 24-h telephone access hospital outpatient clinic as a model of integrated care. Specifically, the 24-h access clinic allowed patients with chronic conditions (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, chronic liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease) in long-term hospital outpatient follow-up to access the hospital 24/7 in case of an exacerbation of their chronic condition. This PhD project has evaluated the effectiveness of the 24-h access clinic compared to usual outpatient care in terms of healthcare utilisation and mortality in patients with chronic conditions. The dissertation shows that a 24-h telephone access outpatient clinic for patients with chronic conditions in outpatient follow-up may reduce unplanned hospital care and general practice out-of-hours contacts. The rate of hospital outpatient visits increased while general practitioner daytime contacts and mortality outcomes were unaffected.

The summary is written by the PhD student.   

The defence is public and takes place online.  Please read the attached press release for more information.

Contact:

PhD student Anders Damgaard Møller Schlünsen

Mail: anders.moeller@clin.au.dk

Phone: (+45) 60481902

Read full press release