Hi, is it me you’re looking for?

Abstract

Objective This is an observational study using phone survey data to describe Consultant in Charge (CIC) phone introductions at major Australian hospital Emergency Departments (EDs). Methods Twenty-nine principal referral hospitals were surveyed by phone using a predetermined script. The primary outcome measure was the number of receivers who identified their name, role, and department. A ‘success’ was recorded if this was unprompted. A ‘partial success’ was recorded if prompting was required. An ‘inadequate’ outcome was the failure of the first two steps. Results Twenty-nine principal referral hospitals were contacted. The primary outcome results were 10.3% [95% CI 3.58, 26.38] success, 48.3% [95% CI 31.4, 65.6] partial success, and 41.4% [95% CI 25.5, 59.3] inadequate. Name, role, and hospital/department were provided without prompting in 86.2% [95% CI 68.3, 96.1], 27.6% [95% CI 12.7, 47.2], and 72.4% [95% CI 52.8, 87.3] respectively. Conclusions Major referral centers have potential to improve communication at the front line.