Modeling the Impact of Inbound Call Distribution Virtualization in Emergency Medical Communication Centers (EMCCs) on Their Service Level

• Conditions: Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems, Health Care

• Registration Number: NCT04670835
• Lead Sponsor: Nantes University Hospital

Brief Summary

Fast access to the Emergency Medical Communication Center (EMCC) is essential for the population in emergency situation. It is therefore essential that these call centers operate quickly and provide good quality service. However, in recent years, EMCCs have experienced a constant and increasing demand from the population. Thus, maintaining the current organization of emergency medical communication centers raises questions about both the volume of incoming calls to EMCCs and the economic constraints, which make it difficult to manage call peaks, especially in periods of crisis.

The aim of our study is to assess the impact of incoming call distribution virtualization in EMCCs on their service quality.

Detailed Description

France is facing political decisions on the evolution of Emergency Medical Communication Center organization to improve population accessibility. Regarding the performance targets requested by the French government (MARCUS report: http://www.urgences113.fr/marcus/Rapport_MARCUS3.pdf), the virtualization of inbound call distribution could improve EMCC service quality indicators.

The Virtualization is a process that consists of centralizing calls from different territories before distributing them to the centers concerned according to their availability. The objective through this process is to improve the population' access to the EMCC by reducing waits time. And on the other hand, to optimize the activity rate of dispatchers and physicians.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2020-12
• Study First Submitted: 2020-12-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-12-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-12-11
• Study First Posted: 2020-12-17
• Last Update Posted: 2020-12-17
• Study Start: 2021-01-15
• Primary Completion: 2021-12-16
• Study Completion: 2022-12-16

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 1500000

Inclusion Criteria

• All incoming calls passing through the five Emergency Medical Centers in the Pays de la Loire region (Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe and Vendée). In each center, an advanced telephone system automatically keeps track of all inbound calls.

Exclusion Criteria

According to the French national consortium, incoming calls that hung up in less than 10 seconds are considered as dialing errors and are excluded

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Operational level of service, defined by the quality of service at 20 s (QS20). It corresponds to the rate of answered calls within 20 s	20 seconds	This indicator is one of the most frequently used internationally to measure the performance of emergency call centers