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The following is a summary of “An instrument as an action against the blind spot of acute medical care in general practice – a systematic review,” published in the March 2025 issue of BMC Primary Care by Rieken et al. 

Rising non-life-threatening urgent cases (NLTUCs) visits strain healthcare systems. General practitioners (GPs) play a key role in acute care, yet their contribution remains underexplored, and assessment tools are lacking. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to identify instruments for detecting acute cases in GP practices. They addressed the lack of tools and frameworks specific to primary care. 

They conducted a systematic review using PRISMA guidelines, searching PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies on acute care assessment tools in primary care. Studies on instruments for measuring acute cases in GP clinics, regardless of design or date, in English or German, were included. Exclusions applied to studies on other clinical settings (e.g., EDs, ICUs) or specific conditions (e.g., asthma, anaphylaxis). 

The results showed that of 1,560 identified studies, only one met the inclusion criteria. It described a coding tool based on the ICPC-2 classification system to assess GP consultation complexity but was not designed to measure urgency in acute care. 

Investigators identified a tool for assessing consultation complexity that could be adapted to evaluate urgency, emphasizing the underrecognized role of GPs in acute care. 

Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-025-02749-6