Middleton, Dougal, Thompson, Fintan, and James, Kira (2024) Evaluating the outcomes of Australia’s first all-age public hospital Sport and Exercise Medicine Outpatient Clinic: a retrospective cross-sectional study. Australian Health Review, 49. AH24245.

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Abstract

Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of Australia’s first public hospital all-age Sport and Exercise Medicine Outpatient Clinic (SEMOC).

Methods. A retrospective cross-sectional study of patients referred to and reviewed in the SEMOC, during a study period from March to October 2023, was performed. Outcomes were the number of appointments, number of patients reviewed, proportion reviewed within Queensland Health recommended timeframes, patient satisfaction, proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, and the rurality of the patients based on the Modified Monash Model of remoteness.

Results. There were 29 clinics, 472 allocated appointments, and 270 new patients referred to the SEMOC (1.7 appointments per patient). Almost a quarter (23.7%) of patients identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and a third (31.9%) were from rural or remote regions. Most (88.7%) patients referred during the study period were seen within the Queensland Health recommended timeframes, and almost all patients referred on for orthopaedic review were booked for surgery (93.6%). Over 90% of patients were satisfied with the quality of treatment they received and rated the overall service as good to excellent.

Conclusion. A SEMOC public hospital model has been shown to be feasible for providing care to patients with musculoskeletal conditions, reaching patients who face barriers to health care, reducing wait times, and improving referral for surgery. The model may assist in meeting Australia’s growing demand for orthopaedic and musculoskeletal medicine and expand within Australia’s public hospital system to become a nationally accepted practice.

Item ID:	84866
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1449-8944
Copyright Information:	© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Date Deposited:	12 Mar 2025 02:57
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4207 Sports science and exercise > 420799 Sports science and exercise not elsewhere classified @ 30% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420312 Implementation science and evaluation @ 70%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2002 Evaluation of health and support services > 200202 Evaluation of health outcomes @ 100%
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