A study of the feasibility and risks of the integration of triage and regulation of acue medical care. general practitioners, emergency departments and the 112 help centre.

In Belgium, emergency departments and GPs take care of urgent medical care during office and out-of-hours (OOH). Patients have access to the care provider of their choice. Over the last years protocols for triage of unplanned care have been developed by working groups in Belgium. The central aim of the present project is to establish if telephonic triage (using the phone number "1733") with professional call takers using these protocols is feasible, reliable and effective. A pilot project is established in the region Leuven-Tienen, in close collaboration with the emergency departments, the general practice OOH services and the regional emergency call centre which operate in that region. The overall research questions are1. What is the safety and efficiency of newly developed protocols when used by call takers? 2. What is the epidemiology of unplanned medical care both during office and out-of-hours?3. What is the influence of telephone triage on the workload and cost of care for unplanned medical problems? Other activities during the project will help to inform the public and the health professionals in the Leuven region. The two year project started May 1, 2016. Results of this study will inform stakeholders about future organisation of OOH care in Belgium. The OOH care research group is part of the General Practice group of the Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary CarePrincipal investigator: Hilde Philips Co-supervisor Veronique VerhoevenJunior researcher: Hanne ClaessenJunior researcher: Annelies ColliersTeam member: Roy Remmen

Keywords:HEALTH CARE POLICY, HEALTH SYSTEMS RESEARCH, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, GENERAL PRACTICE

Disciplines:Public health care, Public health sciences, Public health services, Education curriculum