The agreement on the 72-hour treatment responsibility has been fully implemented in the Capital Region of Denmark since September 2022, and the number covered by the agreement has stabilized at around 2,000 patients per month. The scheme is also being implemented in the other four Danish regions, and an overall evaluation is expected at the end of the year.
The recently completed evaluation in the Capital Region of Denmark shows that, as expected, primarily the elderly between 70 and 89 years are benefiting from the agreement.
A questionnaire survey shows that healthcare professionals from hospitals and the municipality generally (79%) agree that there is widespread awareness of the agreement, and slightly more than one-half (56%) of general practitioners agree.
The lower percentage of general practitioners reflects that general practitioners continue to receive calls which, according to the agreement, should be to the discharging hospital department.
Scheme to be made more widespread
However, several comments in the questionnaire also show that, across all three sectors, there is still some work ahead to get the existence and content of the agreement communicated to all parties involved. Therefore, there is also consensus across the parties to the agreement to continue to spread awareness.
Phone calls to hospital departments are often of a medical nature, and physicians often take the calls. Most of the calls registered are about medication. Among the patient pathways examined in the questionnaire, it appears that calls to hospital departments are most often to clarify the treatment the discharged patient is to have, or whether there is deterioration in the patient's condition.
Data from the questionnaire survey shows that around half of the healthcare professionals in municipalities and at hospitals consider that the agreement entails better transfers from one sector to another.
The study also shows that the majority (74%) of municipal employees agree that the agreement contributes to more coherent patient pathways and that almost half (46%) of hospital staff agree.
Readmission
One of the issues with the scheme has been whether it is possible to prevent inappropriate admissions, but trends in the number of readmissions of the target group indicate that there has been no change since the scheme was introduced.
This confirms that patients who are discharged to the municipal nursing care are particularly vulnerable, with more frequent needs for hospital admission that can be difficult to prevent. The scheme still makes sense for citizens and their pathway in the healthcare service overall.
Further information