Does Telephone Consultancy Reduce Intensity in the Emergencies? Viewpoints of the Primary Healthcare Workers

Telefon Danışmanlığı Acillerdeki Yoğunluğu Azaltır Mı? Birinci Basamak Sağlık Çalışanlarının Bakış Açıları

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this research is to examine the viewpoints of the primary health care workers in Turkey regarding directingthe patients to the emergency service by providing them with telephone consultancy (TC). Methods: In this cross-sectionalstudy, the universe of the research is composed of the primary health care workers in Turkey. The online questionnairetechnique was used to obtain the data. SPSS 15.0 statistical package was used in data analysis and p< 0.05 is consideredsignificant. Results: 1083 healthcare worker participated in the study. The proposal of "I support the TC project" is astatistically significant difference in terms of profession, and it was found out that family health employees looked morepositively at this project than the doctors (p=0,028). The total proportion of the health professionals supporting the projectwas found out to be as low as 17.4%. A statistically significant difference was determined between ages (p=0,005),gender (p=0,005), profession (p=0,000) and years of professional experience (p=0,000) with the proposal of “TC is a populistapproach”. The proposal of "TC service reduces the intensity in the emergency service" in term of the profession, thestatistical difference was found significant (p=0,023). Compared with family health employees; it was determined that thephysicians did not think TC would reduce urgent applications. Conclusion: In Turkey, the primary healthcare workersmostly oppose the TC issue. As the professional experience increase, this rate increases much more.

Özet

Giriş: Bu araştırmanın amacı, Türkiye’de aile hekimliği çalışanlarının hastalara telefon danışmanlığı (TD) hizmeti vererek acil servise yönlendirme konusundaki bakış açılarını incelemektir. Yöntem: Kesitsel tipteki bu çalışmada, araştırmanın evrenini Türkiye’de birinci basamak sağlık çalışanları oluşturmaktadır. Verilerin elde edilmesinde online anket tekniği kullanılmıştır. İstatistiksel analizde SPSS.15.0 paket programı kullanıldı ve p