Bensky A S, Covitz W, DuRant R H
Department of Pediatrics, Brenner Center for Child and Adolescent Health, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Pediatrics. 1999 Apr;103(4):e40. doi: 10.1542/peds.103.4.e40.
To survey primary care physicians to understand their reasons for using echocardiography to screen for congenital heart disease in children and to assess their understanding of the costs associated with cardiology services.
A questionnaire.
Eight hundred sixty-seven pediatricians and family physicians in our region were surveyed, 494 (57%) responded and 466 were used for the analysis.
The majority of pediatricians and family physicians in our area do not know the relative costs associated with cardiology consultation and echocardiography. They also believe it likely that a cardiologist will routinely obtain an echocardiogram as part of their evaluation of a child with a murmur, although this is not the case. The availability and convenience of specialist appointments was found to significantly influence the decision to order an echocardiogram. Family physicians were significantly more likely than pediatricians to order an echocardiogram for a variety of clinical indications.
Improving primary care physicians' knowledge of the costs associated with cardiology services and current cardiology practice patterns, in addition to improving the availability of cardiology referrals, may reduce the number of expensive and unnecessary echocardiograms. echocardiography, heart murmur, congenital heart disease, cost-effectiveness.
对基层医疗医生进行调查，以了解他们使用超声心动图筛查儿童先天性心脏病的原因，并评估他们对心脏病学服务相关费用的理解。
问卷调查。
对本地区867名儿科医生和家庭医生进行了调查，494人（57%）回复，466人用于分析。
我们地区的大多数儿科医生和家庭医生不知道心脏病学咨询和超声心动图的相关相对费用。他们还认为心脏病专家在评估有杂音的儿童时很可能会常规进行超声心动图检查，尽管实际并非如此。发现专科门诊的可及性和便利性对开具超声心动图检查的决定有显著影响。家庭医生比儿科医生更有可能因各种临床指征开具超声心动图检查。
除了改善心脏病学转诊的可及性外，提高基层医疗医生对心脏病学服务相关费用和当前心脏病学实践模式的了解，可能会减少昂贵且不必要的超声心动图检查数量。超声心动图、心脏杂音、先天性心脏病、成本效益。
