Key performance indicators' assessment to develop best practices in an Emergency Medical Communication Centre

A simulation based digital twin approach to assessing the organization of response to emergency calls

In emergency situations, timely contact with emergency medical communication centers (EMCCs) is critical for patient outcomes. Increasing call volumes and economic constraints are challenging many countries, necessitating organizational changes in EMCCs. This study uses a simulation-based digital twin approach, creating a virtual model of EMCC operations to assess the impact of different organizational scenarios on accessibility. Specifically, we explore two decompartmentalized scenarios where traditionally isolated call centers are reorganized to enable more flexible call distribution. The primary measure of accessibility was service quality within 30 s of call reception. Our results show that decompartmentalization improves service quality by 17% to 21%. This study demonstrates that reducing regional isolation in EMCCs can enhance performance and accessibility with a simulation-based digital twin approach providing a clear and objective method to quantify the benefits."

Qualité en régulation médicale : critères et évaluation

Les Samu Centre 15 sont soumis à une politique de qualité qui répond à une approche transversale prenant en considération le patient, le professionnel et l’établissement de santé. La démarche qualité assure à chaque patient de pouvoir accéder à une plateforme de communication en tout point du territoire et d’obtenir pour toutes demandes de soins urgents ou non programmés une réponse juste et adaptée. Pour les professionnels des Samu Centres 15, la qualité en régulation appelle à améliorer puis sécuriser les pratiques dans un contexte de sollicitation constamment croissante depuis ces dernières années. Il s’agit également de garantir des conditions de travail optimales pour les intervenants et de contribuer ainsi à une réponse de qualité. Cette démarche s’intègre également dans la certification par la Haute Autorité de santé des établissements de santé et rentre dans le concept d’hôpitaux « magnétiques » pour allier résultats sanitaires performants et conditions de travail bienveillantes pour les soignants. La stratégie d’amélioration continue de la qualité doit s’appuyer sur des travaux de recherche appliquée à la régulation médicale qu’il convient de développer. S’inspirer des méthodes utilisées dans d’autres systèmes de traitement des appels d’urgence et intégrer de nouveaux outils au sein des Samu Centres 15 pourraient contribuer à atteindre cet objectif de qualité.

Quality indicators development and prioritisation for emergency medical call centres: a stakeholder consensus

Introduction

Emergency medical regulation is a risky activity. In France, emergency medical societies have proposed activity and performance indicators, but their lists are non-exhaustive, unstructured and used heterogeneously among emergency medical call centres (Centres de Réception et de Régulation des Appels, CRRA). Our objective was to build by means of regional stakeholder consensus an operational quality dashboard for CRRAs.

Methods

We conducted an observational step in a French CRRA from June to September 2018 and at the same time listed existing activity and quality indicators through a rapid international literature review. We adapted and classified all indicators identified in a structured table. We prioritised them from April to September 2019 by seeking consensus with one regulator physician and one medical regulation assistant from the 13 CRRAs of the largest French region. We used an adapted Delphi method with a prioritisation scale from 1 to 9.

Results

The rapid review of literature included 33 studies among the 414 identified and, with the first observational step, resulted in a list of 360 quality indicators covering the following areas: material resources, human resources, quality approach, call handling and postcall support. 15 of the 26 members participated in the entire process. Seventy indicators were considered as priorities with strong agreement among participants. We built an operational dashboard of quality indicators deemed high priority and provided 70 descriptive indicator sheets.

Conclusion

Our study allowed to build an operational quality dashboard for CRRAs as a ready-to-use support for an internal audit, for prioritisation of quality approach actions and for national and international benchmarking.

Emergency Key Performance Indicators in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) regard key areas of a particular service which needs to be evaluated. Within the health system, they represent specific and measurable elements and are based on standards generally set by the scientific literature. KPI can be used to assess performances in different areas and achievement of goals. To develop and calculate a set of KPI in the Italian Region Friuli Venezia Giulia (1 million inhabitants) as an audit tool for the regional Emergency healthcare system, with a focus on three timedependent conditions: trauma, acute myocardial infarction, and stroke. To develop the set, a modified Delphi process was applied among Emergency care experts in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Then, the indicators were calculated from anonymous administrative health databases (Emergency Medical System, Emergency Department, hospital discharge, cardiac catheterization laboratory). Databases could be linked with each other at the individual level through a univocal stochastic key. Sensitivity analyses were conducted where different results were expected using different databases. Sixty-one indicators were calculated for the year 2018. Five indicators were summary descriptive measures, 10 were outcome measures, the others were process indicators; 20 were specific on acute myocardial infarction, 12 on trauma, 4 on stroke. Values for some indicators varied depending on the data source. These KPI provided new and interesting information and are used for periodic audit purposes in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Higher quality, completeness and richness of the administrative databases should be promoted to further increase the value of the indicators.

Variation in accessibility of the population to an Emergency Medical Communication Centre: a multicentre observational study

Background

Access to an Emergency Medical Communication Centre is essential for the population in emergency situations. Handling inbound calls without delay requires managing activity, process and outcome measures of the Emergency Medical Communication Centre to improve the workforce management and the level of service. France is facing political decisions on the evolution of the organisation of Emergency Medical Communication Centres to improve accessibility for the population. First, we aim to describe the variation in activity between Emergency Medical Communication Centres, and second, to explore the correlation between process measures and outcome measures.

Methods

Using telephone activity data extraction, we conducted an observational multicentre study of six French Emergency Medical Communication Centres from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. We described the activity (number of incoming calls, call rate per 1000 inhabitants), process measure (agent occupation rate), and outcome measure (number of calls answered within 20 s) by hourly range and estimated the correlation between them according to the structural equation methods.

Results

A total of 52,542 h of activity were analysed, during which 2,544,254 calls were received. The annual Emergency Medical Communication Centre call rate was 285.5 [95% CI: 285.2–285.8] per 1000 inhabitants. The average hourly number of calls ranged from 29 to 61 and the call-handled rate from 75 to 98%. There are variations in activity between Emergency Medical Communication Centres. The mean agent occupation rate was correlated with the quality of service at 20 s (coefficient at − 0.54). The number of incoming calls per agent was correlated with the mean occupation rate (coefficient at 0.67). Correlation coefficients varied according to the centres and existed between different process measures.

Conclusions

The activity dynamics of the six Emergency Medical Communication Centres are not identical. This variability, illustrating the particularity of each centre, must be accurately assessed and should be taken into account in managerial considerations. The call taker occupation rate is the leverage in the workforce management to improve the population accessibility.

Factors affecting medical file documentation during telephone triage at an emergency call centre: a cross-sectional study of out-of-hours home visits by general practitioners in France

Background

In France, general practitioners (GPs) perform out-of-hours home visits (OOH-HVs) after physician-led telephone triage at the emergency call centre. The quality of a systematic physician-led triage has not been determined in France and may affect the efficiency of the OOH-HV process. The objectives of this study were first, to evaluate the quality of reporting in the electronic patient’s file after such triage and second, to analyse the factors associated with altered reporting.

Methods

Cross-sectional study in a French urban emergency call centre (district of Paris area) from January to December 2015. For a random selection of 30 days, data were collected from electronic medical files that ended with an OOH-HV decision. Missing key quality criteria (medical interrogation, diagnostic hypothesis or ruled-out severity criteria) were analysed by univariate then multivariate logistic regression, adjusted on patient, temporal and organizational data.

Results

Among 10,284 OOH-HVs performed in 2015, 748 medical files were selected. Reasons for the encounter were digestive tract symptoms (22%), fever (19%), ear nose and throat symptoms, and cardiovascular and respiratory problems (6% each). Medical interrogation was not reported in 2% of files (n = 16/748) and a diagnostic hypothesis in 58% (n = 432/748); ruled-out severity criteria were not reported in 60% (n = 449/748). On multivariate analysis, altered reporting was related to the work overload of triage assistants (number of incoming calls, call duration, telephone occupation rate; p < 0.03).

Conclusion

In the electronic files of patients requiring an OOH-HV by a GP in a French urban area, quality in medical reporting appeared to depend on organizational factors only, especially the triage assistants-related work factors. Corrective measures are needed to ensure good quality of triage and care.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-019-4350-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Interventional studies performed in emergency medical communication centres: systematic review

We aimed to both quantitatively and qualitatively describe interventional research performed in emergency medical communication centres. We conducted a systematic review of articles published in MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Web of Science. Studies evaluating therapeutic or organizational interventions directed by call centres in the context of emergencies were included. Studies of call centre management for general practice or nonhealthcare agencies were excluded. We assessed general characteristics and methodological information for each study. Quality was evaluated by the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool or the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Among 3896 articles screened, we retained 59; 41 studies were randomized controlled trials (69%) and 18 (31%) were before-after studies; 41 (69%) took place in a single centre. For 33 (56%), 22 (37%) and 4 (7%) studies, the models used were simulation training, patient-based or experimental, respectively. The main topic was cardiac arrests (n = 45, 76%), with outcome measures of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality and dispatch assistance. Among randomized controlled trials, risk of bias was unclear or high for selective reporting for 37 (90%) studies, low for blinding of outcomes for 34 (83%) and low for incomplete outcomes for 31 (76%). Regarding before-after studies, quality was high in 9 (50%) studies. Few interventional studies have been performed in call centres. Studies mainly involved simulation and focussed on cardiac arrest. The quality of studies needs improvement to allow for a better recognition and understanding of emergency medical call control.

Connect dispatch centers for call handling improves performance

The aim of this Letter to the Editor was to report a strategy to reduce time waiting for emergency calls in a dispatch center, in line with a recently published article that reviewed evidence for medical dispatching systems to accurately dispatch Emergency medical Services. Here, we tested the effect of a connected distribution of calls, where a call is allocated to the first available resource among a pooled group of telecommunicators from several dispatch centers. We found that connect dispatch centers improve dispatch center performance, especially during an overloaded period. It could be leveraged to handle emergency calls without delay and to appropriately dispatch Emergency Medical Services.