An evaluation of an afterhours nurse triage call center

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly implemented afterhours nurse triage call service utilized by an Arizona primary care group. Descriptive and correlational data was collected by survey. Four defined benefits: a) workload, b) quality of life, c) quality of care, and d) organizational were measured on a five-point Likert scale; mean results were 4.36 to 4.71. Benefit/value ranking placed workload and quality of life highest. Correlational relationships established in this study showed significant (a s 0.05) between providers intensity of use on all four benefits but none of the benefit/values. Patient intensity of use correlated only to workload and quality of life benefits and no benefit/values. Prior research related to providers perceptions of benefits or benefit/value of triage systems was limited. This study provides descriptive and correlational data on provider perceived benefits, benefit/values, and intensity of use of an afterhours nurse triage call service.