Inappropriate Use of Public Hospitals Emergency Departments in Greece: Magnitude and Associated Factors

• Published in: Studies in health technology and informatics Vol. 262; p. 224
• Main Authors: Galanis, Petros, Siskou, Olga, Charalambous, Giorgos, Konstantakopoulou, Olympia, Liarigkovinou, Angeliki, Karagkouni, Iliana, Tsolas, George, Chatzi, Panagiota, Giotaki, Aikaterini, Keramidas, George, Nikolakakou, Amalia, Papachristou, Aikaterini, Papatheodorou, Panagiotis, Papastefanopoulou, Vasiliki, Skountzos, Ioannis, Thermogianni, Amalia, Kaitelidou, Daphne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 04.07.2019
• Subjects: emergency department; inappropriate use of EDs; HUAP; public hospital
• ISSN: 1879-8365
• DOI: 10.3233/SHTI190059

The aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of use of the Emergency Departments (EDs) and to identify the reasons for inappropriate use. A study with 805 patients visiting the EDs of four large-scale public hospitals in Athens was conducted using the Hospital Urgencies Appropriateness Protocol (HUAP). 38.1% of the visits (n=307) were estimated as inappropriate, due to several reasons such as increased confidence in hospital rather than primary care services/patients' expectation for improved care in EDs (46.6%), convenience/proximity to patient's residence (44.6%) etc. Ageing, Greek nationality and insurance coverage were related with the appropriate use of EDs (p<0.001, p=0.04 and p=0.005, respectively). The identified distortions must be tackled so as to mitigate ED crowding, waste of resources and increase quality and responsiveness of care.