Frequency of emergency medical service contacts after hospital admissions

Identifying frequent users of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the post-discharge period can potentially direct interventions to prevent deterioration at home. This study aimed to describe the frequency of post-discharge emergency phone calls within 30 days after common medical and surgical categories of hospital admission. A retrospective cohort study retrieved data from the electronic medical record and the EMS Capital Region Denmark database after approval by the Danish Health Data Authority. The study investigated the number of 30-day EMS calls per 1000 days alive outside hospital in patients hospitalized due to acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), colorectal surgery, and 18 other disease categories. We included 16,338 patients with a discharge from hospital between August 2021 and August 2022.The overall number of EMS calls was 4,263 with 9.1 (95% confidence interval (95% CI)): 8.8-9.4) calls per 1000 patient days within 30 days. Patients discharged after medical hospitalization due to AECOPD contacted EMS 15 (95% CI: 13-16) times per 1000 patient days only surpassed by sepsis with 19 calls per 1000 patient days (95% CI: 17-21). Patients undergoing colorectal surgery had an EMS call frequency of 7.5 (95% CI: 6.4-8.7) and highest among types of surgery was hip- and knee replacements with 12 (95% CI: 11-13) calls per 1000 patient days. Patients discharged after hospitalization due to AECOPD and sepsis had a higher 30-day EMS call frequency compared with other medical cohorts, whereas major orthopedic surgery was followed by more EMS calls than admissions for colorectal surgery.