Emergency medicine physician-led care at the patient's residence: a cohort study of a mobile emergency unit.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Southern Denmark Esbjerg, Esbjerg, Denmark. [email protected].
- 2Department of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Southern Denmark Esbjerg, Esbjerg, Denmark.
- 3Research Unit of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Southern Denmark Esbjerg, Esbjerg, Denmark.
- 4Department of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Southern Denmark Esbjerg, Esbjerg, Denmark. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Emergency departments (EDs) are often overcrowded. Older adults, who are frequently multimorbid and resource-intensive, represent a growing share of acute care demand. In Denmark, mobile emergency units (MEUs) provide emergency physician-led assessment and initial treatment in the patient's residence to potentially reduce avoidable hospital transfers. However, data on real-world service delivery and medium-term outcomes after MEU contacts remain limited.Methods
We conducted a retrospective, single-centre cohort study of MEU contacts within the Esbjerg Hospital catchment area (Region of Southern Denmark) from 1 September 2023 to 31 December 2024. Using the hospital's electronic health record, we extracted demographics, comorbidities, on-scene diagnostics and treatments, and patient disposition, and descriptively summarised immediate disposition at the index encounter, service delivery, and 180-day all-cause mortality without risk adjustment.Results
The cohort comprised 1,987 MEU contacts corresponding to 1,336 unique patients, with a median (interquartile range) age of 80.9 (71.1-87.9) years. Nearly one-third had ≥ 3 comorbidities. Point-of-care testing and ultrasound were used frequently (60.5% and 24.8%, respectively), and on-scene therapies were commonly administered (antibiotics 31.6%, intravenous fluids 18.0%, and analgesia 9.0%). 82.7% of contacts were managed at home without hospital conveyance at the index encounter, while the remaining contacts were directly admitted to hospital from the scene. 443 (33.2%) of the 1,336 unique patients died within 180 days.Conclusions
MEU home visits involved bedside diagnostics and on-scene treatments, and most contacts were managed at home without conveyance at the index encounter. Mortality over 180 days was substantial and should be interpreted cautiously in this older, multimorbid cohort. The descriptive, unadjusted design precludes causal inference regarding safety or effectiveness.
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BibTeX
@article{moradi2026emergency,
title = {{Emergency medicine physician-led care at the patient's residence: a cohort study of a mobile emergency unit.}},
author = {Masoud Moradi and Lise Waagø Christiansen and Trygve Bjørnevik and Mette Rahbek Kristensen and Johanne Overgaard Wessels and Anders Brøns Møllekær and Line Emilie Lilholm Laugesen and Peter Biesenbach},
journal = {BMC emergency medicine},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12873-026-01656-y},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42902177},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Emergency medicine physician-led care at the patient's residence: a cohort study of a mobile emergency unit.
AU - Masoud Moradi
AU - Lise Waagø Christiansen
AU - Trygve Bjørnevik
AU - Mette Rahbek Kristensen
AU - Johanne Overgaard Wessels
AU - Anders Brøns Møllekær
AU - Line Emilie Lilholm Laugesen
AU - Peter Biesenbach
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - BMC emergency medicine
DO - 10.1186/s12873-026-01656-y
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42902177
AB - Background Emergency departments (EDs) are often overcrowded. Older adults, who are frequently multimorbid and resource-intensive, represent a growing share of acute care demand. In Denmark, mobile emergency units (MEUs) provide emergency physician-led assessment and initial treatment in the patient's residence to potentially reduce avoidable hospital transfers. However, data on real-world service delivery and medium-term outcomes after MEU contacts remain limited.Methods We conducted a retrospective, single-centre cohort study of MEU contacts within the Esbjerg Hospital catchment area (Region of Southern Denmark) from 1 September 2023 to 31 December 2024. Using the hospital's electronic health record, we extracted demographics, comorbidities, on-scene diagnostics and treatments, and patient disposition, and descriptively summarised immediate disposition at the index encounter, service delivery, and 180-day all-cause mortality without risk adjustment.Results The cohort comprised 1,987 MEU contacts corresponding to 1,336 unique patients, with a median (interquartile range) age of 80.9 (71.1-87.9) years. Nearly one-third had ≥ 3 comorbidities. Point-of-care testing and ultrasound were used frequently (60.5% and 24.8%, respectively), and on-scene therapies were commonly administered (antibiotics 31.6%, intravenous fluids 18.0%, and analgesia 9.0%). 82.7% of contacts were managed at home without hospital conveyance at the index encounter, while the remaining contacts were directly admitted to hospital from the scene. 443 (33.2%) of the 1,336 unique patients died within 180 days.Conclusions MEU home visits involved bedside diagnostics and on-scene treatments, and most contacts were managed at home without conveyance at the index encounter. Mortality over 180 days was substantial and should be interpreted cautiously in this older, multimorbid cohort. The descriptive, unadjusted design precludes causal inference regarding safety or effectiveness.
SN - 1471-227X
ER -