Frequency of Emergency Medical Service contacts after hospital admissions

Background Identifying frequent users of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the post-discharge period can potentially direct interventions to prevent deterioration at home. This study aimed to describe the frequency of post-discharge emergency phone calls within 30 days after common medical and surgical categories of hospital admission. Methods A retrospective cohort study retrieved data from the electronic medical record and the EMS Capital Region Denmark database after approval by the Danish Health Data Authority. The study aimed to investigate number of 30-day EMS calls per 1,000 days alive outside hospital in patients hospitalized due to acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and colorectal surgery as compared to 18 other disease categories. We hypothetized that patients discharged after hospitalization for AECOPD or colorectal surgery had higher number of EMS calls than the remaining categories. Results We included 16,338 patients with a discharge from hospital between August 2021 and August 2022.The overall number of EMS calls was 4,263 with 9.1 (95% confidence interval (95%CI)): 8.8 to 9.4) calls per 1,000 patient days within 30 days. Patients discharged after hospitalization due to AECOPD contacted EMS 14.9 (95%CI: 13 to 16) times per 1,000 patient days. Patients undergoing colorectal surgery had an EMS call frequency of 7.5 (95%CI: 6.4 to 8.7) calls per 1,000 patient days. Conclusion Patients discharged after hospitalization due to AECOPD had a higher 30-day EMS call frequency compared with other medical cohorts, whereas a more even pattern of contacts was seen after discharge from various surgical admissions.