Do neurologists and primary care physicians agree on the extent of specialty involvement of patients referred to neurologists?
OBJECTIVE
Understanding the roles and responsibilities of physicians who manage mutual patients is important for assuring good patient care. Among physicians expressing a preference to involve a neurologist in the care of a patient, we evaluated agreement between neurologists and primary care physicians for the extent of specialty involvement in the evaluation and management of the patient, and the factors influencing those preferences.


METHODS
A self-administered survey containing 3 clinical scenarios was developed with the assistance of a multispecialty advisory board and mailed to a stratified probability sample of physicians.


METHODS
Six hundred and eight family physicians, 624 general internists, and 492 neurologists in 9 U.S. states.


METHODS
For each scenario, those respondents who preferred involvement of a specialist were asked about the preferred extent of that involvement: one-time consultation with and without test/medication ordering, consultation and limited follow-up, or taking over ongoing care of the specialty problem as long as it persists.


RESULTS
Survey response rate was 60%. For all 3 scenarios, neurologists preferred a greater extent of specialty involvement compared to primary care physicians (all P <.05). Other physician and practice characteristic factors, including financial incentives, had lesser or no influence on the extent of specialty involvement preferred.


CONCLUSIONS
The disagreement between primary care physicians and specialists regarding the preferred extent of specialist involvement in the care of patients with neurological conditions should raise serious concerns among health care providers, policy makers, and educators about whether mutual patient care is coordinated and appropriate.
Swarztrauber
Kari
K
Department of Neurology, Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon 97207, USA. swarztra@ohsu.edu
Vickrey
Barbara G
BG
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009462:Neurology / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States