TY - JOUR
T1 - Pediatric telephone advice
T2 - A new medical service in Israel
AU - Sher, C.
AU - Mimouni, M.
AU - Weitzen, T.
AU - Waisman, Y.
PY - 1994
Y1 - 1994
N2 - Although controversy still exists about dispensing medical advice over the telephone, such services are widely offered by pediatricians in the USA. In Israel, however, such services have not yet been developed. In a joint project of the Moked Keshev (a private medical help line) at Magen David Adom (national ambulance service) and the Children's Medical Center of Israel, the first pediatric telephone advice service in Israel was established. In this study we analyzed 512 consecutive incoming calls received during the first 11 months of service operation. Of these, 42% of calls concerned children in the 1 month to 1 year age group. Unexpectedly, calls were almost evenly distributed throughout the week with a slight decrease on Fridays and Saturdays (sabbath), and 45.7% of the calls were received during the morning shift. The three most common reasons for contact were: of a general nature such as fever (23%), gastrointestinal problems (19%), and medical questions (18%). In only 20.7% of the cases were the patients advised to go to the nearest hospital emergency department, emphasizing the non-emergent nature of the calls. At the time of follow-up (within 24 h), patient status was assessed as: improved (73.7%), same (22.6%), and worse (3.8%). Of those who became worse, none required an emergency department evaluation. The present study demonstrates that a Pediatric Telephone Advice Service in Israel is technically functional, medically safe, and contributes to the health management of children.
AB - Although controversy still exists about dispensing medical advice over the telephone, such services are widely offered by pediatricians in the USA. In Israel, however, such services have not yet been developed. In a joint project of the Moked Keshev (a private medical help line) at Magen David Adom (national ambulance service) and the Children's Medical Center of Israel, the first pediatric telephone advice service in Israel was established. In this study we analyzed 512 consecutive incoming calls received during the first 11 months of service operation. Of these, 42% of calls concerned children in the 1 month to 1 year age group. Unexpectedly, calls were almost evenly distributed throughout the week with a slight decrease on Fridays and Saturdays (sabbath), and 45.7% of the calls were received during the morning shift. The three most common reasons for contact were: of a general nature such as fever (23%), gastrointestinal problems (19%), and medical questions (18%). In only 20.7% of the cases were the patients advised to go to the nearest hospital emergency department, emphasizing the non-emergent nature of the calls. At the time of follow-up (within 24 h), patient status was assessed as: improved (73.7%), same (22.6%), and worse (3.8%). Of those who became worse, none required an emergency department evaluation. The present study demonstrates that a Pediatric Telephone Advice Service in Israel is technically functional, medically safe, and contributes to the health management of children.
KW - Emergency medicine
KW - Pediatrics
KW - Telephone advice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028101128&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:0028101128
SN - 0021-2180
VL - 30
SP - 651
EP - 656
JO - Israel Journal of Medical Sciences
JF - Israel Journal of Medical Sciences
IS - 8
ER -