Limitations and consequences of public health models centred on hospitals and lacking connections with territorial and home-based social and health services

Abstract Background Delayed discharge from hospital to home or other care institutions is a significant problem and has been investigated in the international scientific literature for many years. Behind this condition is a health care system based on a hospital-centered concept characterized by a lack of territorial health and social welfare services. This phenomenon causes two different problems: an excessive length of hospital stay, resulting in slow turnover of bed utilization; and overcrowding in emergency rooms (ERs). The phenomenon of frequent users assumes particular importance in this context. These patients repeatedly visit the emergency department (ED) in the same year because care needs are not met by primary care services. The authors in this study tried to describe the Frequent users (FUs) population and the variables associated with this condition. Materials and methods A retrospective "single-arm" descriptive study was conducted by analysing all accesses made to the ED of Policlinico Tor Vergata (PTV) from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. FUs were defined as patients who had 4 or more accesses to PTV ER during the year. Results A total of 37,800 accesses occurred during the study period. A total of 31,691 users accessed the PS, with a mean age of 55.8 ± 22.2 years. There were 359 FU patients (approximately 1%) who had a total of 1984 accesses, corresponding to 5.2% of the total accesses. The triage codes for the FU patients were red, 2%; orange, 21%; blue, 45%; green, 26%; white, 5%; and not performed, 1%. Considering the 1984 FU accesses, the most frequently attributed "main problems" in the ED were "other symptoms or disorders" (54%), "psychomotor agitation" (12%), "trauma or burn" (8%), "abdominal pain" (6%), "chest pain" (4%), "dyspnea" (4%) and "urological symptoms or disorders" (4%). Multivariate analysis revealed that the main determinants of FUs were psychomotor agitation (HR = 7,23; CL95%:6,194–8,443), urological disorders (HR = 2,16; CL95%:1,68–2,76) and poor socioeconomic status (HR = 2,40; CL95%:2,213–2,663). Conclusions The FUs phenomenon expresses an area of health and social distress where poverty and lack of territorial services oblige people to refer to the ED. Primary care interventions integrated with social support are crucial for managing access to the ED.