Trans-sectoral Patient Pathways

A new care episode is assumed when the interval between encounters exceeds the temporal window and the complaint cluster changes. Pathway length is capped at 30 days, consistent with existing urgent and emergency care quality indicators; longer sequences are treated as chronic utilisation patterns. Pathways are operationalised as the time-ordered sequence of urgent or emergency encounters within a 72-hour temporal window, or encounters sharing the same main complaint cluster. A patient pathway is defined as the time-stamped sequence of care events, encounters and transitions during one urgent health problem episode, from initial contact to final treatment. Secondary outcomes include detection of redundant or potentially inappropriate utilisation, repeated emergency contacts, and bypassing of coordination structures such as 116117.