Paediatric emergency outpatient care.: Analysis of an university hospital-based service

Background: Pediatric emergency outpatient care system was evaluated. Methods: From February to July 1998 prospective data on 3,890 patients with acute illness, admitted to the emergency department of the Children's Hospital of the University of Leipzig, were collected with respect to the weekday, hour of the day, nationality, insurance status, cause of presentation, family doctor,living area, examination scale,and diagnosis. Results: For workdays we found no change in frequency, whereas at weekends in the second half of our registration period significantly fewer patients were presented. On Wednesdays and Fridays more patients were presented than on other workdays. Two-thirds of the patients were up to 6 years old. The diagnostic spectrum includes 49.8% infections of airways and the middle ear, 13.4% unspecific symptoms, 9.8% acute enteritis, 3.7% ingestions, and 23.2% miscellaneous diseases. In 11%, clinic admission was necessary. All children were insured, 96.3% with legal health insurance, 2.8% by private insurance, 0.9% via social welfare. There were 3.8% foreign children. Conclusion:The results can help plan emergency care as part of teaching and research programs. Our data can also be useful for planning and evaluation for practitioners working in an emergency department of a pediatric clinic. In addition and most importantly, the advantages of a well known medical center for children and adolescents in a city of about 500,000 inhabitants with regard to financial resources and quality of care are documented and emphasized.