New rural health research led by UCRH researcher Dr Simon Davidson has tested whether a package of strategies could improve care and hospital flow for people presenting to emergency departments with low back pain.
Low back pain is a common and disabling condition and a frequent reason for people to seek emergency care. However, there is limited evidence about how emergency departments can optimise care for these patients while also improving service efficiency.
Dr Davidson, Professor Chris Williams and their research colleagues evaluated four strategies co-designed for use in an Australian tertiary referral hospital: a local emergency department guideline, a patient information handout, an education program for clinicians and a rapid-access physiotherapy follow-up clinic.
The study compared outcomes before and after the strategies were introduced, drawing on thousands of emergency department presentations for low back pain.
Researchers found small reductions in hospital admissions and emergency department length of stay following implementation, but these changes were not statistically significant.
The rapid-access physiotherapy clinic received 121 referrals, with 41 per cent of those patients attending an appointment.
While the strategies did not produce the improvements researchers had hoped to see, the findings provide important evidence about the challenge of improving care and patient flow for people presenting to emergency departments with low back pain.
The study also demonstrates the value of evaluating changes to healthcare delivery rather than assuming that seemingly promising interventions will necessarily lead to better outcomes.
The article, Impact of Strategies to Improve Flow and Lower Hospital Admissions for Low Back Pain in the Emergency Department: an Interrupted Time Series Analysis, was published in Emergency Medicine Journal on 2 October 2026.
