Dr Matt Wright
Oct 2022
Abstract:
Aims: The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency and profile of abdominal pain calls to Healthline with that from other
national healthcare providers; to evaluate the outcomes for this symptom against international telehealth providers; and to explore
any inter-clinician variation in the response to abdominal pain that could be part of a quality improvement cycle.
methods: Data routinely collected about abdominal pain calls to Healthline from 2017 to 2019 were extracted, analysed; and compared to
the literature, hospital, and ambulance data and international telehealth providers. A specialist group was convened to review the profile of Healthline callers and outcome data. Variation in outcome changes and acuity grouping was evaluated at an individual level.
Results: Approximately 50,000 abdominal pain calls to Healthline over three years were analysed, with three-quarters from women,
mostly of childbearing age. The majority call afterhours, with NZ European and, to a lesser extent, Māori, and callers from smaller
geographical areas are over-represented. One quarter of patients had a hospital outcome (including 4% receiving an ambulance), which
was found to be less acute than comparable health systems. Whakarongorau’s Clinical Governance Committee and the Specialist Group
both supported the relative distribution of outcomes given by Healthline for abdominal pain. There was found to be variation in the
outcomes given to abdominal pain callers at an individual clinician level. This was both in their changes to the disposition given by the
Odyssey decision support tool and in their overall outcome distribution.
Conclusion: Healthline should be considered a key part of New Zealand’s healthcare system, as illustrated by the volume of calls that it receives and the fact that presentation types are similar to general practice and emergency departments. Given that abdominal pain is a difficult symptom to accurately address without in-person examination and investigation, the findings support Healthline’s outcomes as appropriate with hospitalisation rates lower than comparable healthcare systems. Whakarongorau’s (the organisation which runs Healthline) ability to identify individual clinician behaviours gives it a unique opportunity to improve care through decreasing variation.