FOllow-up of LOW-acuity Patients After REdirection From a Swiss Emergency Department Using an Electronic TRIage Application

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a growing issue, affecting patient safety, healthcare quality, and hospital efficiency. One strategy to manage low-acuity patients is triage-based redirection, where patients with non-urgent conditions are offered the option to receive care at external medical facilities instead of the ED.

This monocentric, prospective observational study will be conducted at Fribourg Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland, and evaluates the impact of a new electronic triage and redirection system (Logibec Réorientation). The study compares two triage processes:

Current practice - Redirection based on the Swiss Emergency Triage Scale (SETS), limited to low-acuity patients (SETS 4).

New practice - Redirection using the Logibec software, allowing redirection of both low-acuity (SETS 4) and semi-urgent (SETS 3) patients based on predefined criteria.

The primary objective is to assess whether the new triage-based redirection reduces the number of ED consultations per patient within 48 hours of their initial visit.

Secondary outcomes include:

Number of consultations in the ED or other medical facilities within 7 days Rate of hospital admissions within 7 days Patient satisfaction with redirection Evolution of health literacy over 6 months Number of ED visits over 6 months Participants are adult patients (≥18 years old) classified as SETS 3-4 and identified as eligible for redirection by the Logibec software. Data will be collected through phone interviews and questionnaires over a 6-month follow-up period.

This study aims to improve triage efficiency, patient flow management, and healthcare accessibility, while ensuring patient safety in the redirection process.