General practice > Research

OPTINOFA – Optimization of emergency care through structured initial assessment by means of intelligent assistance services

Since the beginning of the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in the number of cases treated in hospital emergency rooms. In particular, the proportion of outpatient emergency treatments, which could also be provided by general practitioners, has increased disproportionately. The main reasons for this development include demographic change, increasing quality expectations on the part of patients, and changes in the structures of care provided by primary care physicians. The consequences are increasingly overcrowded emergency rooms with a resulting increase in the risks of emergency medical care and rising costs of emergency treatment in terms of health economics.

Project Goals

The OPTINOFA project aims to introduce a stringent and differentiated management of patients in the various sectors of outpatient and inpatient treatment in the emergency department by means of a structured initial assessment of the treatment urgency and required level of care (outpatient vs. inpatient).

Study design and methodology

For this purpose, a prototype of knowledge-based assistance services on mobile devices is to be developed for the target group of emergency physicians working within the hospital as well as for physicians on call in private practice.
It is expected that the implementation of this new form of care will accelerate emergency medical processes, improve quality and reduce the costs of emergency treatment in the health care system in the long term.

Participating institutions

Consortium partners:

University Medical Center Göttingen, Central Emergency Department (ZNA) - consortium leader
University Medical Center Göttingen, Institute for Medical Informatics (IMI) - consortium leader
University Medical Center Göttingen, Institute for Medical Statistics (IMS) - consortium partner
Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg (OVGU), University Hospital for Trauma Surgery
Scientific Institute of the AOK (WIdO), research area: quality and health care research
Heilbronn University (HHN), research institution GECKO-Institute for Medicine, Informatics and Economics
AOK Lower Saxony (AOK)
DAK Health Insurance (DAK)
Techniker Krankenkasse (TK)

Cooperation partners:

Model hospitals: Bonn University Hospital, Interdisciplinary Emergency Center; Braunschweig Municipal Hospital; Central Emergency Department, Benjamin Franklin Campus, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Freiburg University Hospital, University Emergency Center; Fürth Hospital, Central Emergency Department; Göttingen University Hospital; Jena University Hospital, Interdisciplinary Emergency Center; Munich Municipal Hospital, Emergency Center; Weende Protestant Hospital; Wolfenbüttel Municipal Hospital; Wolfsburg Hospital.
Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians: Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Lower Saxony, Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Baden-Württemberg.
Other health insurance companies: IKK classic, Audi BKK

Further information about the project can be found on the following page:

http://optinovaprojekt.uni-goettingen.de/startseite/

Website von OPTINOFA