Effectiveness of an Observational Unit at St. Olavs Hospital

St. Olavs Hospital105 enrolled

Overview

The trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly established Observational unit at St. Olavs Hospital in terms of readmission rates, compared to the provision of care in normal/traditional units for defined diagnosis and medical problems.

Observational units are thought to be more efficient than traditional ward units, but the evidence is scarce. The trial will in a randomized fashion evaluate the study hypothesis at an organizational level and not confined to specific diagnosis. The hypothesis to be tested is to confirm or reject the equal effectiveness of an Observational unit compared to a traditional ward for organizing in-hospital care.There are established eligibility and exclusion criteria based on clinical experience. Endpoint is length of stay and readmission within 30 days. In addition the study will give information on the use of diagnostic and treatment resources used and collect some basic demographic variables.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

105

Conditions

Emergency Patients

Interventions

Traditional wardOTHER

provision of care in a traditional unit/ward.

Organizational changeOTHER

Observational unit (new organizational unit) for organizing in-hospital care

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Emergency admitted patients only * All patients on the list (appendix 1) with a tentative length of stay \< 24 hours * Predicted stay of less than 24 hours * Willingness and able to sign a informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Emergency admitted patients with life threatening illnesses * Patients with a tentative length of stay \> 24 hours based on the summary of medical and logistical considerations e.g. need of major - surgery, infections with prolonged infusions of antibiotics. * Unwillingness to sign a informed consent * By discretion of the physician/surgeon * Readmission of any reason in the study period (within 30 days)

Locations (1)

St. Olavs Hospital

Trondheim, Norway

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Length of stay (LOS)

Length of hospital stay in hours

Time frame: 1 year

Secondary Outcomes

Readmission within 30 days

Readmission to hospital for any reason within 30 calender days

Time frame: 30 days

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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