About Primary and Hospital Care

Aims

Primary and Hospital Care (ISSN 3042-9897) is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal covering the interface between outpatient primary care and inpatient hospital care across general medicine.

The journal publishes research on the entire patient journey prior to elective or emergency hospitalization. Topics include disease prevention, screening, and referral policies, the challenges associated with out-of-hospital acute community medicine and emergency medical services, and the optimization of the critical interface between primary care, emergency services, and in-hospital treatment.

The journal aims to disseminate knowledge on delivering compassionate and scientifically accurate care to the community, improving clinical decision-making, reducing hospital admissions and readmissions, optimizing patient transitions, and enhancing the integration of primary, emergency, and in-hospital healthcare systems.

The journal focuses on publishing original research articles, reviews, guidelines, tutorials, commentaries, and case reports, but other article types will also be considered. All submissions are peer-reviewed by experts to ensure scientific quality. Research articles should include clearly defined research questions, appropriate methodology and analysis, and adhere to community-agreed standards relevant to the field. There is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers and experimental and theoretical studies must provide sufficient details.

Scope

The journal covers all aspects of healthcare delivered outside the traditional inpatient hospital setting, with a particular emphasis on the following areas:

Out-of-Hospital & Primary Care

• Public health interventions at the frontline.
• Ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the community to prevent avoidable hospitalizations.
• Diagnostic accuracy and prescribing practices in primary and emergency care.
• Evidence-based protocols and decision support tools for clinicians
• Integrative approaches between General Practice and Specialists.
• Home-based care and "hospital-at-home" models.
• Management of acute presentations in primary care settings.
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications in frontline triage and risk prediction.
• Point-of-Care technologies, including Ultrasound (POCUS) and rapid diagnostics in community and emergency settings

Health Systems & Transitional Care

• Patient safety during transitions from the community to the acute setting.
• Implementation and evaluation of post-discharge clinical protocols in primary care
• Digital health and telemedicine in out-of-hospital evaluation.
• Healthcare policy and organization of emergency/primary care networks.
• Medical education and training for healthcare providers.
• Wearable devices for remote monitoring of post-discharge patients.

Emergency & Acute Care

• Urgent care medicine in the community, "fast-track" systems, and dedicated patient pathways
• Acute diagnostic strategies and point-of-care testing (POCT).
• Pre-hospital emergency medicine and Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
• Emergency Department (ED) management, clinical outcomes, and the interface with inpatient specialties.
• Adaptation of frontline emergency and primary care protocols in low-resource and rural settings.

Editorial Office

For further MDPI contacts, see here.