Nurse-Led Calls Reduce Emergency Department Visits
Fraser Health Virtual Care ran a pragmatic quasi-randomized trial (May–Sept 2022) testing nurse-led postdischarge telephone calls among 7,091 high-risk adults (intervention n=3,911; 1,752 completed calls) to measure 7- and 30-day ED visits and readmissions. Calls significantly lowered ED visits at 7 days (adjusted IRR 0.719, 95% CI 0.617–0.837; P<.001) and 30 days (IRR 0.878, 95% CI 0.783–0.983; P=.02) but did not significantly reduce hospital readmissions.
Key Points
- 1Demonstrates reduced short-term ED visits: adjusted IRR 0.719 (7 days) and 0.878 (30 days).
- 2Highlights telephone calls as accessible digital health intervention improving care transitions for high-risk, equity-sensitive populations.
- 3Suggests health systems can deploy nurse-led calls as scalable, low-tech strategy to reduce avoidable ED use.
Scoring Rationale
Large, peer-reviewed pragmatic trial demonstrating clear ED reductions; limited effect on readmissions tempers transformational impact.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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