Physiotherapist-led care for musculoskeletal conditions in the emergency department (RESHAP-ED): a randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation.

Physiotherapist-led care reduces emergency department stay by 1 hour for musculoskeletal patients, without safety concerns, and is highly cost-effective.

• Why it matters: Long emergency department stays threaten patient safety and strain healthcare systems, highlighting the need for more efficient care models that maintain safety and quality.
• What they did: A pragmatic, randomized trial involving 1,491 adults compared physiotherapist-led care to usual physician or nurse practitioner care across five Australian emergency departments, focusing on length of stay.
• The result: Patients receiving physiotherapist-led care had significantly shorter stays (2.4 hours vs. 3.4 hours), with no increase in adverse events, and the model proved to be cost-effective with a 98.1% probability.