One-Stop Outpatient Cardiology Clinics: 10 Years' Experience

A one-stop outpatient cardiology clinic was set up at the Vic General Hospital in Spain in 1996. The aims were to provide patients with a rapid response, and to ensure that, on the same day, they saw a specialist and were referred for any relevant investigations required, primarily echocardiography, exercise testing, and Holter monitoring. We report experience from 10 years of follow-up, involving 19 515 consultations. The mean waiting time for a consultation was 3 days. We analyzed the reasons for the consultations, the investigations carried out, and the reductions in follow-up visits and hospital admissions. Primary care physicians' level of satisfaction was increased by this approach. The one-stop clinic proved feasible in clinical practice and proved robust during the follow-up period. This clinical model was beneficial for patients, was highly acceptable to primary care physicians, reduced the need for patients to contact the hospital, and, possibly, reduced hospital admissions.

En 1996 se implementó en el Hospital General de Vic la consulta inmediata ambulatoria de alta resolución en cardiología, con el objetivo de dar respuesta rápida a los pacientes y realizar el mismo día la visita especializada y las exploraciones complementarias indicadas, fundamentalmente ecocardiograma, prueba de esfuerzo o Holter. Se expone la experiencia de 10 años de seguimiento, con un total de 19.515 visitas. La media de espera para la visita fue de 3 días. Se analizan los motivos de consulta, las exploraciones efectuadas y la disminución de visitas sucesivas e ingresos hospitalarios. La satisfacción de la atención primaria aumentó con este modelo asistencial. La consulta de alta resolución resultó aplicable en la práctica real y perdurable en el seguimiento. El modelo es beneficioso para el paciente y satisfactorio para la atención primaria, reduce los contactos paciente-hospital y posiblemente evita ingresos hospitalarios.