Modeling the Impact of Inbound Call Distribution Virtualization in Emergency Medical Communication Centers (EMCCs) on Their Service Level

Overview

Fast access to the Emergency Medical Communication Center (EMCC) is essential for the population in emergency situation. It is therefore essential that these call centers operate quickly and provide good quality service. However, in recent years, EMCCs have experienced a constant and increasing demand from the population. Thus, maintaining the current organization of emergency medical communication centers raises questions about both the volume of incoming calls to EMCCs and the economic constraints, which make it difficult to manage call peaks, especially in periods of crisis. The aim of our study is to assess the impact of incoming call distribution virtualization in EMCCs on their service quality.

Study Type

  • Study Type: Observational
  • Study Design
    • Time Perspective: Retrospective
  • Study Primary Completion Date: December 16, 2021

Detailed Description

France is facing political decisions on the evolution of Emergency Medical Communication Center organization to improve population accessibility. Regarding the performance targets requested by the French government (MARCUS report: http://www.urgences113.fr/marcus/Rapport_MARCUS3.pdf), the virtualization of inbound call distribution could improve EMCC service quality indicators. The Virtualization is a process that consists of centralizing calls from different territories before distributing them to the centers concerned according to their availability. The objective through this process is to improve the population' access to the EMCC by reducing waits time. And on the other hand, to optimize the activity rate of dispatchers and physicians.

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Case Group (unic)
    • Group/Cohort Label : Users of Emergency Call Centers Users of French territory ‘Region Pays de la Loire’ Group/Cohort Description: All Users calling through the five Emergency Medical Centers of the French Pays de la Loire region (5 areas of the region are : Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, Vendée). In each Emergency Medical Center, an advanced telephone system automatically keeps track of all inbound calls. Average annual number of incoming calls for the 5 Emergency Medical Center of Pays de la Loire region is 1,6 million.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Operational level of service, defined by the quality of service at 20 s (QS20). It corresponds to the rate of answered calls within 20 s
    • Time Frame: 20 seconds
    • This indicator is one of the most frequently used internationally to measure the performance of emergency call centers

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

  • All incoming calls passing through the five Emergency Medical Centers in the Pays de la Loire region (Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe and Vendée). In each center, an advanced telephone system automatically keeps track of all inbound calls. Exclusion Criteria:

According to the French national consortium, incoming calls that hung up in less than 10 seconds are considered as dialing errors and are excluded

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: N/A

Maximum Age: N/A

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: No

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Nantes University Hospital
  • Collaborator
    • IMT Mines Albi – France (https://www.imt-mines-albi.fr/)
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Sponsor
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Yann Penverne, MD, Principal Investigator, Nantes University Hospital
  • Overall Contact(s)
    • Yann Penverne, MD, +336 50 84 05 72, yann.penverne@chu-nantes.fr

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