ED app saves thousands of hours of patient wait time

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Introduction of Emergency Q at Southland Hospital’s Emergency Department late last year has led to nearly 300 patients choosing to be seen for free in general practice instead.

Nationally, Emergency Q (EQ) - which is used in seven Emergency Departments and 18 urgent care clinics across the motu - has saved patients more than half a million hours waiting in Emergency Departments (EDs).

The EQ app asks patients questions to determine if they need to be in ED and tells them how long it would take to be seen for their condition.

For non-medical emergencies, it shows users other options in the community, how long it would take to be seen and treated there and how much it would cost.

EQ was introduced at Southland Hospital in September 2022 in a partnership with WellSouth primary health network, which provides patients with conditions that can be safely managed in primary care a voucher for a free same-day GP appointment.

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Between September and December last year, 289 patients were transferred to primary care via EQ for issues such as wound complications, cough, earache and skin-related complaints.

Simon Donlevy, Te Whatu Ora general manager for Southland Hospital, says the use of EQ means people with non-emergency concerns are seen sooner, and emergency clinician time is freed up, which means shorter waits for other patients.

Chief executive and founder of EQ, Morris Pita, says that in 2023 the service will increasingly offer virtual doctor options, especially after hours and in areas which are more remote.

To date more than 113,000 patients have chosen to attend a community provider for care after using the EQ app, saving themselves over 500,000 hours of waiting in EDs.

He says independent analysis by Synergia estimated this had saved those EDs 129,000 hours of nurse and doctor time, equivalent to adding another 80 FTEs to the NZ health workforce.

“We are also seeing some amazing equity results, with 100 percent or more increases in the relative access rates to urgent primary care among high need population groups, particularly Māori and Pasifika, who are over-represented among low acuity cases in NZ’s EDs,” he says.

Joseph Davidson, West Invercargill health practice manager, says that patients are very happy to be transferred to primary care via EQ and some have enrolled as patients, where previously they did not have a GP.

This gives them access to routine and preventative care and eligibility for funded screening programmes such as breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening.

Picture: Emergency Q app - click to enlarge


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