Pd28-05 utilization of 24 hour phone access for patients with acute urinary calculi

You have accessJournal of UrologyStone Disease: Evaluation I1 Apr 2014PD28-05 UTILIZATION OF 24 HOUR PHONE ACCESS FOR PATIENTS WITH ACUTE URINARY CALCULI Eugene Kramolowsky, Albert Petrossian, Jacob Wright, David Rapp, and Nada Wood Eugene KramolowskyEugene Kramolowsky More articles by this author , Albert PetrossianAlbert Petrossian More articles by this author , Jacob WrightJacob Wright More articles by this author , David RappDavid Rapp More articles by this author , and Nada WoodNada Wood More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2014.02.2116AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Patients experiencing acute renal colic frequently seek urgent care, often in a hospital emergency department (ER) setting. Numerous health policy changes are currently focused on reducing ER utilization in an effort to reduce cost and improve quality of care. Accordingly a dedicated phone line was established to provide 24 hour access for acute stone patients in an effort to provide efficient and directed care. METHODS A dedicated 24 hour stone line (SL) was established in the setting of a large (29 urologists) practice. The SL number was advertised to the general public and also provided to established stone patients, local ER and primary care physicians. The utilization of the SL access and the results of its use were analyzed to evaluate its impact. RESULTS The SL received 9,482 calls between January 2009 and July 2013 (mean/yr 2,107; annual range 1,892-2,319). The majority of SL calls 53.4% (5,067) were received after scheduled office hours. The most calls were received on Monday (19.1%) and the fewest on Saturday (11.4%) Patients or their family member placed the call most often 7,271 (77%) followed an MD calling 1,550 (16%) of the time. As a result of a call to the SL, 50% (4,173/8,403 patient calls) of the patients were seen by a urologist within 48 hours. Of patients seen resulting from a SL call, 771 (18%) had ureteroscopy within 2 weeks and over half (401) of these were done within 48 hours. Similarly 733 (18%) patients had ESL within 2 weeks and of these 269 (37%) had ESL within 2 days. The remaining 2,669 (64%) SL related office visits did not result in immediate surgical intervention within two weeks. The patient visits related to use of SL comprise 8.2% (4,173/51,212) of the practice's total stone visits during this time period. Over the 4.5 year period, 16% (771/4,766) of the ureteroscopies done were related to the SL and 16% (733/4,711) of ESL were performed after a SL related visit. CONCLUSIONS Although the majority of SL visits did not result in immediate surgical intervention, approximately 15% of the patients treated by this large urology practice for stone disease utilize the SL. The SL provides the patient with acute renal colic rapid access to urology services resulting in timely evaluation and care. © 2014FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 191Issue 4SApril 2014Page: e770-e771 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2014MetricsAuthor Information Eugene Kramolowsky More articles by this author Albert Petrossian More articles by this author Jacob Wright More articles by this author David Rapp More articles by this author Nada Wood More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...