Nature of after-hours calls at a tertiary-level rehabilitation center

To determine the incidence and nature of calls for on-call physicians after hours at a tertiary-level rehabilitation center.

Prospective survey of on-call physicians during 1 year.

A tertiary-level rehabilitation center with 66 beds in Nova Scotia.

Residents, clinical associates, and staff physicians covering calls.

Not applicable.

Number of calls during 1 year, types of calls, medical issues dealt with, and time spent in center after hours dealing with calls.

The overall response rate by on-call physicians was 75%. In the 274 days for which surveys were returned, 467 calls were received. Of these calls, 53% were for medication orders, 36% for medical issues, 7% for procedures, and 5% for incidents.

For a 65-bed unit, on-call staff were called a median of once per night. The most common call was for medication orders. House staff were required to come in about once in every 9 calls (11%) and stayed less than 1 hour in most cases.