Health care utilization for patients seen by a virtual urgent care provider with no emergency department (ED) referral plus matched in-person ED controls who were discharged from the ED
| Variable | No. (%)* of patients seen by VUC n = 14 179 | No. (%)* of control patients discharged from in-person ED n = 14 179 | Δ, %* (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ED visit, in-person | |||
| Within 72 h of index visit | 1948 (13.7) | 988 (7.0) | 6.7 (6.1 to 7.5) |
| Within 7 d of index visit | 2344 (16.5) | 1460 (10.3) | 6.2 (5.4 to 7.0) |
| Within 30 d of index visit | 3111 (21.9) | 2532 (17.9) | 4.0 (3.2 to 5.0) |
| VUC visit | |||
| Within 72 h of index visit | 357 (2.5) | 0 (0.0) | 2.5 (2.2 to 2.8) |
| Within 7 d of index visit | 569 (4.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4.0 (3.7 to 4.4) |
| Within 30 d of index visit | 993 (7.0) | 0 (0.0) | 7.0 (6.6 to 7.4) |
| Hospital admission | |||
| Within 72 h of index visit | 151 (1.1) | 187 (1.3) | −0.2 (−0.5 to 0.0) |
| Within 7 d of index visit | 221 (1.6) | 268 (1.9) | −0.3 (−0.6 to 0.0) |
| Within 30 d of index visit | 370 (2.6) | 479 (3.4) | −0.8 (−1.2 to −0.4) |
| Length of stay, d, mean ± SD | 6.2 ± 10.4 | 5.2 ± 9.3 | 1.0 (0.7 to 1.2) |
| Primary care visits | |||
| Visit on same day as index visit† | 5089 (35.9) | 1651 (11.6) | 24.3 (23.3 to 25.2) |
| Within 7 d of index visit (excluding index date) | 3173 (22.4) | 3242 (22.9) | −0.5 (−1.5 to 0.5) |
| Within 30 d of index visit (excluding index date) | 5837 (41.2) | 6134 (43.3) | −2.1 (−3.2 to 0.9) |
| Specialist visits | |||
| Visit on same day as index visit† | 3748 (26.4) | 715 (5.0) | 21.4 (20.6 to 22.2) |
| Within 7 d of index visit (excluding index date) | 1996 (14.1) | 2368 (16.7) | −2.6 (−3.5 to −1.8) |
| Within 30 d of index visit (excluding index date) | 4537 (32.0) | 4757 (33.5) | −1.5 (−2.6 to −0.5) |