After-hours services in capitation-funded primary care practice: use and satisfaction

To examine patients' use of and satisfaction with the nurse-staffed Telephone Health Advisory Service (THAS) and physician after-hours care in a rostered Family Health Organization, as well as physicians' satisfaction with both types of services.

Cross-sectional telephone survey.

A Family Health Organization in Hamilton, Ont.

Nineteen family physicians and their patients who used an after-hours service during 9 selected weeks between March and December of 2007.

Distribution of encounters directed to the on-call physician or to the THAS; types of health problems; and patient and physician satisfaction.

A total of 817 calls were recorded from 774 patients. Of these patients, 606 were contacted and 94.4% (572/606) completed encounter-specific surveys: 358 completed the on-call physician survey and 214 completed the THAS survey. Mean age of respondents was 40.8 years; most were women, and approximately one-third called on behalf of children. Most calls (66.8%, 546/817) were made directly to the on-call physicians. The most common problems were respiratory (34.3%, 271/789), gastrointestinal (10.1%, 80/789), and genitourinary (9.3%, 73/789). Most patients reported being very satisfied with the after-hours care provided by the THAS (62.5%, 125/200) or the on-call physicians (70.9%, 249/351). Almost all callers who bypassed the THAS knew about it (89.8%, 316/352), but either felt their problems were too serious or wished to talk to a physician. Most physicians agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with their colleagues' on-call care (81.0%, 17/21); 47.6% (10/21) agreed that the THAS was helpful in managing on-call duty.

When direct after-hours physician contact is available, a minority of patients uses a nurse-staffed triage. Physicians find the arrangements onerous and would prefer to see after-hours care managed and remunerated differently.