A Scoping Review of After-Hours House Call Systems and Outcome in Different Countries

Abstract

Introduction: We performed a scoping review of after-hours primary care to examine delivery models of afterhours house calls and their use, and conducted outcome evaluation studies of after-hours house calls. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and Ichuu-shi were used to identify studies published between 2000 and 2021. We selected studies that explained the after-hours house call system or studies that included outcome evaluation. Results: We included 109 studies. The system of after-hours house calls varied in each country. There were one to four research reports on the actual situation of after-hours house calls in each country; however, there were no nationwide reports in Japan. After-hours house calls accounted for the lowest proportion of afterhours care. Only observational studies were found for the impacts of satisfaction and utilization of emergency department services as outcome evaluations for after-hours house-call services. Conclusion: Further research on the after-hours care system is needed, and further discussions based on the results of the study are required.