Hospital-integrated general practice: a promising way to manage walk-in patients in emergency departments

Rationale, aims and objectives The inappropriate use and overcrowding of emergency departments (EDs) by walk‐in patients are well‐known problems in many countries. The current study aimed to determine whether ambulatory walk‐in patients could be treated more efficiently in a new hospital‐integrated general practice (HGP) for emergency care services compared to a traditional ED. Methods We conducted a pre‐post comparison before and after the implementation of a new HGP. Participants were walk‐in patients attending the ED of a city hospital in Zurich. Main outcome measures were differences in total process time, time intervals between stages of care and diagnostic resources used. Results The median process time from admission to discharge was 120 minutes in the ED [interquartile range (IQR): 80–165] versus 60 minutes in the HGP (IQR: 40–90) (P