Primary Care-Hospital Embedding: a Prospective, Multicentric, Observational Study

Primary Care-Hospital Embedding: a Prospective, Multicentric, Observational Study

This is a multicentric, prospective, observational study with two cohorts and adjunctive procedure. It aims at collecting and analyzing data about the function of an innovative hospital-territory integration health service for the management of patients with intermediate urgency, or emergency department "white codes." This service, activated in the participating centers, will be provided in two alternative modalities, one so-called "dual specialty" (cardiology and diabetes specialist outpatient clinic) and a second one more focused on the figure of the specialist in Internal Medicine.

The investigators will monitor the population treated in these centers (presenting complaint, medical history, clinical-radiological data, performed therapies and overall health path) and the degree of satisfaction of the General Practitioners who sent their patients there and the degree of satisfaction of the patients themselves. The data collected will also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the outpatient clinics in terms of reducing improper admissions to the Emergency Departments and hospitalizations. The two modes of service delivery will be compared.

This is an 18-month study, sponsored by our Scientific Directorate and carried out on a nonprofit basis. The study will enroll 246 patients and 30 healthy volunteer General Practitioners. The clinical trial will be conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practice standards.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients sent by General Practitioners for outpatient evaluation in the two models
• Patients able to read and sign the informed consent
• Patients able to read and fill the questionnaire

Exclusion Criteria:

- Pregnant women