Comparison of non-PMH and PMH respondents’ views of PMH access
| Question | Non-PMH (n=16) | PMH (n=17) | Mann–Whitney | |||
| Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | U | Z | P | R | |
| How valuable do you believe PMH would be/ how valuable is it to have access to PMH? | 5 (5–5) | 5 (5–5) | 80.000 | −2.838 | 0.005 | 0.49 |
| For a patient you see for the first time with no prior hospital records, how useful is it/ how valuable would it be to access PMH for patients triaged as ‘urgent’ for the following presenting conditions? | ||||||
| Chest pain | 5 (4.25–5) | 5 (4–5) | 118.000 | −0.801 | 0.423 | |
| Collapse/fall | 5 (4–5) | 5 (4–5) | 116.500 | −0.807 | 0.419 | |
| Eye problem | 4 (3–4.75) | 3 (2–4) | 80.500 | −2.056 | 0.040 | 0.36 |
| Head injury | 5 (3–5) | 3 (2–4) | 67.500 | −2.543 | 0.011 | 0.44 |
| Lower limb injury | 2.5 (2–4) | 2 (2–3.50) | 115.500 | −0.789 | 0.430 | |
| Unknown condition | 5 (4.25–5) | 5 (4–5) | 117.000 | −0.822 | 0.411 | |
| Multiple injuries (result of an accident) | 4 (3–4.75) | 3 (3–5) | 127.500 | −0.325 | 0.745 | |
| Post-ictal/Altered conscious state | 5 (5–5) | 5 (4–5) | 105.500 | −1.380 | 0.168 | |
| Unwell | 5 (3.25–5) | 4 (4–5) | 115.000 | −0.849 | 0.396 | |
| For a patient you see for the first time with no prior hospital records, how useful is it/ how useful would it be to access past medical history records for patients triaged as ‘urgent’ for the following age groups? | ||||||
| Infants (0–1) | 4 (3–5) | 3 (2.5–5) | 119.000 | −0.637 | 0.524 | |
| Children (2–11) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (2.5–4.5) | 107.500 | −1.064 | 0.287 | |
| Adolescents (12–18) | 4 (3–5) | 3 (2.5–4.5) | 103.500 | −1.224 | 0.221 | |
| Adults (19–64) | 5 (4–5) | 4 (3–4.5) | 83.500 | −2.019 | 0.043 | 0.35 |
| Elderly (65+) | 5 (5–5) | 5 (5–5) | 128.000 | −0.463 | 0.643 | |
| Patients irrespective of age | 4.5 (4–5) | 4 (3–4.5) | 95.500 | −1.551 | 0.121 | |
| In general, which components of a patient’s PMH are/would be most valuable? | ||||||
| Demographics (age, address, etc) | 3 (3–4) | 3 (2–4) | 104.000 | −1.201 | 0.230 | |
| Pathology and radiology results | 5 (4–5) | 5 (4–5) | 118.500 | −0.738 | 0.461 | |
| Medications (prescribing information) | 5 (5–5) | 5 (5–5) | 135.500 | −0.044 | 0.965 | |
| Problem list | 5 (4–5) | 5 (4–5) | 122.500 | −0.583 | 0.560 | |
| Medical history, allergies | 5 (5–5) | 5 (4.5–5) | 121.000 | −0.808 | 0.419 | |
| Specialist/allied health reports | 4.5 (4–5) | 4 (4–5) | 119.000 | −0.673 | 0.501 | |
| Hospital discharge summaries | 5 (4–5) | 5 (4–5) | 129.000 | −0.291 | 0.771 | |
| GPs’ most recent comments | 4 (4–5) | 4 (4–5) | 115.000 | −0.828 | 0.408 | |
| ECGs | 5 (5–5) | 5 (4–5) | 112.000 | −1.216 | 0.224 | |
| In general, how valuable would it be to access information from the following external sources? | ||||||
| The patient’s general practice(s) | 5 (5–5) | 4 (4–5) | 88.000 | −2.058 | 0.040 | 0.36 |
| Pharmacies prescribing data | 5 (4–5) | 5 (4–5) | 131.500 | −0.184 | 0.854 | |
| Medical specialists, for example, ophthalmology, ENT | 4 (4–5) | 5 (4–5) | 115.500 | −0.853 | 0.394 | |
| Social welfare and related services | 4 (3.25–4) | 4 (3–4) | 130.500 | −0.226 | 0.821 | |
| Dental records | 3 (3–3.75) | 3 (3–4) | 113.500 | −0.876 | 0.381 | |
| Other health and social services | 3 (3–4) | 3 (3–4) | 128.000 | −0.328 | 0.743 | |
| In which triage categories does diagnosis and treatment of unfamiliar patients do you believe would most benefit/ do most benefit from accessing patients' PMH records? | ||||||
| Resuscitate | 5 (4.25–5) | 5 (4–5) | 110.500 | −1.102 | 0.270 | |
| Emergency | 5 (4.25–5) | 5 (4–5) | 100.000 | −1.526 | 0.127 | |
| Urgent | 5 (4–5) | 4 (4–5) | 126.500 | −0.376 | 0.707 | |
| Semiurgent | 4 (3–5) | 3 (3–4) | 96.500 | −1.516 | 0.130 | |
| Non-urgent | 3.5 (2.25–5) | 3 (2.5–4) | 107.500 | −1.069 | 0.285 | |
| To what extent do you believe that having access to patients’ PMH would help you with presentations during a viral pandemic? | 4.5 (4–5) | 4 (4–5) | 110.000 | −1.062 | 0.288 | |
| To what extent do you believe that having access to patients’ PMH can help you manage a patient suspected of exposure to infection during a viral pandemic? | 4.5 (4–5) | 4 (3.5–4) | 124.000 | −0.464 | 0.642 | |
| In a state of pandemic alert, for what proportion of patients would you expect to access patients' PMH? | 3 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 128.000 | −0.300 | 0.764 | |
Responses are on a Likert scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
ECG, electrocardiogram; ENT, ear, nose and throat; GP, General Practitioner; PMH, past medical history.