Post

New research · Emergency Medicine
Oxford open digital health · 23h
Cohort studyOxford open digital health · 2026

The effectiveness of the diversion of patients from an emergency department waiting room to a virtual medical consultation.

Jennie Hutton, Clare Matheson, Suzanne Miller … Loren Sher
Read paper
Emergency MedicineCohort study

Virtual consultations were associated with successful diversion of most patients from the emergency department.

The effectiveness of the diversion of patients from an emergency department waiting room to a virtual medical consultation.

Jennie Hutton et al. · Oxford open digital health · 2026
Background

The increase in number of presentations to Emergency Departments (EDs) has continued to contribute to poor health outcomes worldwide.

Methods

This retrospective study was undertaken at a metropolitan ED utilizing the public state-wide Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) service.

n = 339 patients
76%
Results
76% of patients offered virtual care were successfully diverted from the physical emergency department.
n = 339 patients
More results

The proportions of successful diversions from the physical ED and subsequent presentations in the following 7 days were reported.

Eighty-one (24%) participants were advised to visit the ED as planned.

A total of 206 participants (61%) had no further contact with the VVED or the ED.

More results

A total of 20 (6%) patients undertook a subsequent VVED consultation, and 30 (9%) presented to the ED in ˂7 days and two were directly admitted to a short-stay unit.

“
Conclusion

Virtual consultation services can be integrated into the ED waiting room, resulting in the successful diversion of patients with a small number of adverse events.

Read paper
0 comments

No comments yet. Be the first.

Related papers

LatestFoundational
Cross-sectional
62%
most clinicians were interested in a research study for lower leg skin infection
AI / Informatics
odds ratio 2.37
Artificial intelligence assistance more than doubled the chances of correctly identifying a collapsed lung from injury
AI / Informatics
0.844
how well the new model predicted septic shock
Cohort Study
IRR 0.21
Community Care Team Transitional Care Programme was associated with a lower 90-day death rate
Cohort Study
29.0 min
Patients during unscheduled drills had an average door-to-triage time of 29.0 minutes.
Guideline
5 days
new guidelines recommend less antibiotic treatment than this for nonsevere lung infection
AI / Informatics
79.4%
the model correctly identified the right diagnosis for brain and nerve emergencies