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Observational Study
. 2025 Apr 7;9(1):e003143.
doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-003143.

Organisation of paediatric primary care and access to emergency room: an observational study in Italy

Letizia Bartolini  1 , Laura Bonvicini  1 , Romano Manzotti  1 , Annalisa Zini  1 , Chiara Longagnani  1 , Massimo Quattropani  1 , Paolo Giorgi Rossi  1 , Giulio Formoso  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Organisation of paediatric primary care and access to emergency room: an observational study in Italy

Letizia Bartolini et al. BMJ Paediatr Open. .

Abstract

Ease of access to primary care may be inversely related to non-emergency access to emergency room services (ERS). We assessed whether patients of general paediatricians working in networks have reduced the use of ERS in an Italian province. In 9 months, overall rates of visits and repeated ER visits were numerically higher for patients of solo paediatricians than for those of paediatricians working in networks. However, in our sample, the reduction of the corresponding adjusted risks was not statistically significant most of the time. Further research should assess whether organisational factors are associated with the risk of using ERS inappropriately.

Keywords: Child Health; Epidemiology; Health services research.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Database structure and methods of analysis. ER, emergency room; FP, family paediatrician.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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