A quick diagnosis unit as an alternative to conventional hospitalization in a tertiary public hospital: a descriptive study
Author
Sanclemente-Ansó, Carmen
Salazar Soler, Albert
Bosch, Xavier
Capdevila, Cristina
Vallano, Antoni
Català, Isabel
Fernandez‑Alarza, Antonio F.
Rosón-Hernández, Beatriz
Corbella Virós, Xavier
Publication date
2013-09-24ISSN
0032-3772
Abstract
Introduction: Reports indicate that a significant number of patients admitted to internal medicine units could be studied on an outpatient basis. Objectives: This article assesses a quick diagnosis unit (QDU) as an alternative to acute hospitalization for the diagnostic study of patients with potentially serious diseases and suspected malignancy. Patients and methods: Between March 2008 and June 2012, 1226 patients were attended by the QDU. Patients were referred from the emergency department, primary health care centers, and outpatient clinics according to well‑defined criteria. Clinical information was prospectively registered in a database. Results: There were 634 men (51.7%), with a mean age of 60.5 ±17.5 years. The mean time to the first visit was 3.5 ±5.3 days. Most patients (65.7%) required only 2 visits. The mean interval to diagnosis was 12.2 ±14.7 days. A total of 324 patients (26.4%) had cancer. The diagnosis was solid tumor in 81.5% of the cases, lymphoma in 19.8%, and various hematologic malignancies in 4.3%. The second most common diagnosis was anemia not associated with cancer (8.6% of the cases). Admission to the QDU allowed to avoid conventional hospitalization for diagnostic studies in 71.5% of the patients, representing a mean freeing‑up rate of 7 internal medicine beds per day. In a satisfaction survey, 97% of the patients were completely or very satisfied and 96% preferred the QDU to conventional hospitalization. Conclusions: A QDU may be a feasible alternative to conventional hospitalization for the diagnosis of otherwise healthy patients with suspected severe disease. Appropriately managed and supported, QDUs can lighten the burden of emergency departments and reduce the need for hospitals beds.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Accepted version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
Keywords
Càncer
Anèmia
Serveis sanitaris
Diagnòstic
Cáncer
Anemia
Servicios de salud
Diagnóstico
Cancer
Anemia
Health services
Diagnosis
Pages
7
Publisher
Medycyna Praktyczna
Collection
123; 11
Is part of
Polish Archives of Internal Medicine
Citation
Sanclemente‑Ansó, Carmen; Salazar, Albert; Bosch, Xavier [et al.]. A quick diagnosis unit as an alternative to conventional hospitalization in a tertiary public hospital: a descriptive study. Polish Archives of Internal Medicine, 2013, vol. 123, núm. 11, p. 582-588. Disponible en: <https://www.mp.pl/paim/issue/article/1966>. Fecha de acceso: 9 feb. 2020. DOI: 10.20452/pamw.1966
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Ciències de la Salut [740]
Rights
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material, provided the original work is properly cited, distributed under the same license, and used for non-commercial purposes only.
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