Table 1.
Details On Included Studies
| Author & Date | Health System | GP Population | Paediatric Population | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample Size | Type of Work | Sample Size | Age | Gender | Insurance Status | Reason for Seeking Unscheduled Healthcare | ||
| Barwise- Munro, Morgan & Turner, 2018 | Universal Care | Referring GPs (7), Receiving clinicians (10) | Referring GPs: Family doctors (2), GP’s working in ED (3) & Out of Hours services (3) Receiving Clinicians: All working in the acute medical paediatric unit. Clinicians who are either in their foundation year, specialist trainees or associated specialists. | 10 children and their parents | Between 5wks – 10 yrs. | 9 mothers, 1 father | n/a | Level of consciousness Acutely unwell Breathing problems Breathing problems Fever and shaking Allergic reaction seizure |
| Brousseau, D. et al, 2011 | Private or Public | 20 PCPs | 75% were paediatricians, 25% were family practice, general practice and internal medicine. | 26 parents of children | < 2: 50%, 2–4: 23%, > 4: 27% | 21 female and 5 male parents’; 14 girls | Public: 69% Private: 15% Unknown: 8% None: 8% | Fever with or without vomiting and diarrhoea: 6 (23%) Pain (oral, tympanic): 6 (23%) Breathing problems (wheezing, coughing, etc): 5 (19%) Rash: 2 (8%) Laceration: 2 (8%) Bump on the head: 2 (8%) Nosebleed: 1 (4%) Minor trauma: 1 (4%) Swollen eye: 1 (4%) |
| Dale, J. et al, 1995 | Universal care | 6 GPs; 31 ED Physicians | GPs: local General Practitioners; ED Physicians: 27 senior house officers, 3 registrars and 1 Senior registrar | < 16 yrs. n: 913 (19.7%); Overall n = 4641 | Not reported | n/a | Not reported | |
| Haimi, M. et al, 2018 | Treatment at an ED is free on referral from a GP | 15 Physicians working in telemedicine | All paediatric specialists, 7 with subspecialty. Professional experience range: 4 -30 yrs. (m: 19 yrs), paediatric telemedicine experience range: 5–9 yrs. | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | n/a | Not reported |
| Kini,N.M & Strait, R., 1998 | Private or Public | 364 PCP’s | Primary Care Physicians | 364 | Not reported | Not reported | 52% enrolled in a health maintenance organisation (HMO) which requires prior approval by PCP for non-urgent visits to the ED | Fever, minor trauma, and respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders |
| Orimadegun, A.E. et al, 2008 | Not reported | 974 referral letters written by various healthcare professionals | Letters were written by physicians (69.2%), registered nurses (21.3%), hospital assistants (2.1%), traditional birth attendants (0.4%), and non- health workers (0.3%). The identity of the writers of 65 letters (6.7%) could not be defined | 974 | 1 day - 16 years median age of 43 months | Male: 568; Female: 406 | Not reported | Not reported |
| Rhodes, K. et al, 2012 | Private or Public | 26 specialists and 14 PCP’s |
Specialty physicians Subspecialty type: Allergy/immunology (2) Cardiology (1) Developmental paediatrics (4) Emergency medicine (1) Neurology (3) Ophthalmology (2) Orthopaedic surgery (3) Otolaryngology (3) Paediatric intensive care (1) Physical medicine/rehabilitation (1) Psychiatry (3) Pulmonary diseases (1) Radiology (1); Primary care physicians: Adolescent medicine (1) Family medicine (1) General paediatrics (12) |
Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | Publicly insured | Not reported |