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DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957022
Establishing Surveillance Clinics: The Road to Success
Publication History
Publication Date:
29 December 2006 (online)
ABSTRACT
Interventional radiology interacts with all medical disciplines and historically has not had a patient base of its own. The specialty has depended upon referrals for procedures (often complex) and not referrals for the global management of the disease process or patient. Because of this, when referrers develop catheter-based skills, referrals to interventional radiology drop and competition for primary care physician referrals increase; a double strike. To compete, interventional radiology needs to offer clinical services to the primary care physician. One way to compete is by establishing particular disease surveillance programs. Below we discuss in detail the process of establishing surveillance clinics, which one worked for us, and the expected outcomes of these clinics.
KEYWORDS
Interventional radiology - referrals - surveillance program - aneurysm screening
REFERENCES
- 1 ICAVL April 2005 Newsletter. Available at: http://www.intersocietal.org/icavl/news/articles/addressing.htm
- 2 Practice Guideline for Interventional Clinical Practice. Available at: http://www.acr.org/s_acr/bin.asp?CID=1076&DID=17774&DOC=FILE.PDF
- 3 The UK Small Aneurysm Trial Participants . Mortality results for randomized controlled trial of early elective surgery or ultrasonographic surveillance for small abdominal aortic aneurysms. Lancet. 1998; 352 1649-1655
H. Bob SmouseM.D.
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center
530 NE Glen Oak Avenue, North Building, Room 4684, Peoria, IL 61637