Telephone triage services: systematic review and a survey of Canadian call centre programs

Stacey D, Noorani H Z, Fisher A, Robinson D, Joyce J, Pong R W
Record ID 32004000169
English, French
Authors' objectives:

This review aims: - To evaluate the effects of teletriage services on health service use, caller safety, satisfaction and health-related quality of life - To examine the costs and cost-effectiveness of teletriage services - To summarize the characteristics of Canadian teletriage programs and their evaluations.

Authors' recommendations: - About 50% of calls to teletriage services can be managed without having to refer the caller elsewhere. - Teletriage reduces the number of immediate visits to physicians without causing adverse outcomes such as subsequent hospitalizations, visits to the emergency departments or deaths. - Two studies - one in the US and one in the UK - show cost savings as a result of nurse teletriage services that are provided outside usual business hours. - Seven Canadian jurisdictions have province-wide teletriage programs (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick) and the other six have identified a need.
Authors' methods: Systematic review
Details
Project Status: Completed
URL for project: https://www.ccohta.ca/
Year Published: 2003
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Not Assigned
Country: Canada
MeSH Terms
  • Costs and Cost Analysis
  • Remote Consultation
  • Telemedicine
  • Telephone
  • Triage
Contact
Organisation Name: Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment
Contact Address: 600-865 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S8 Canada. Tel: +1 613 226 2553, Fax: +1 613 226 5392;
Contact Name: requests@cadth.ca
Contact Email: requests@cadth.ca
Copyright: Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA)
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.