Ease pediatric emergency department crowding in Switzerland with high-quality telephone triage: a prospective multicenter study

This PTTS (>100,000 calls/year) based on clinical expertise and guidelines is appropriate, safe, efficient, and patient-satisfactory and prevents a considerably high percentage of patients from visiting a PED. While patient adherence to triage recommendations "PED" and "Telemedicine" was high, lower adherence to PCP referrals might be explained by deviations in parents' perception of acuity, and/or limited PCP availability (at out-of-office hours). Triage appropriateness varied across perspectives. Incorporating such high-quality PTTSs into further regions of Switzerland may help alleviate the burden on the healthcare system.