NCT02465879

Allied Health in Rheumatology Triage Project

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 295 (actual)
• Sponsor: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

There is accumulating evidence that early treatment leads to better outcomes for patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA). Triage, which is the process of identifying the urgency of a patient's disease state efficiently and correctly, may facilitate early referral to a rheumatologist. Several studies have suggested that placing allied health professionals (occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, etc.) in a triage roll may reduce wait time for patients with suspected IA. The goal of this investigation will be to demonstrate the system-level impact of an Arthritis Society extended role occupational therapist (OT) or physical therapist (PT) working in a triage role in improving access to rheumatologists for people with IA. In this study two groups will be observed: intervention and "usual care" as determined by historical chart review. Wait times will be compared between both groups.

Conditions

• Inflammatory Arthritis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Therapist Triage	An extended role occupational or physical therapist will triage each subject in the study to determine the urgency of their case and how soon they need to see the rheumatologist.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-05-01
• Primary completion: 2015-12-01
• Completion: 2015-12-01
• First posted: 2015-06-09
• Last updated: 2016-06-30