Emergency department reorganisation introducing increased autonomy: A mixed effects approach to evaluate the effects of a national policy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In 2007, a Danish national policy to future-proof emergency department (ED) performance was launched. The policy included several recommendations for the management and organisation of care that essentially introduced greater ED autonomy. In this study, we evaluate the effects of increased ED autonomy on readmission, mortality and episode costs for two large patient groups.

Method

A non-randomised stepped wedge study-design where all EDs gradually implemented the policy at different steps during the study period (2008-2016). The timing and extent of policy implementation was determined from a retrospective cross-sectional survey of all 21 Danish EDs. This was linked to all episodes of hip fracture (n = 79,697) and erysipelas (n = 39,900) identified in the Nation P

SUBMITTER: Tipsmark LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10035920 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature