Implications
Considering our results, we envisage some practical applications from a health policy perspective. Both hospitals belong to the same health area in Barcelona and the tertiary hospital is the referral center for patients managed at the second-level hospital. However, their quick diagnosis units are independent and not interconnected. It is, however, feasible to design a functional model with integrated quick diagnosis units of the same health areas with shared working protocols and resources. Accordingly, patients could be referred to these units depending on the complexity of their disorders or the availability of spaces in the unit, or they could also be referred based on criteria of efficiency or cost optimization, irrespectively of whether they were referred from primary care centers or the emergency department.