2012 Grant Awards
The posters and papers listed below each grant arise from work facilitated through the grant funding.
Optimizing the Coordination of Care between Rheumatologists and Primary Care Physicians for patients with Inflammatory Arthritis
Principal Investigator: Bombardier, C, Tu, K, (PDF)
Co-investigators: Widdifield, J , Jaakkimainen, L; Thorne, C; Bernatsky, S; Ahluwalia, V; Paterson, M; Ivers, N; Butt, D; Hofstetter, C; Lyddiatt, A,
Project Summary
The aim of our study is to examine wait times for initial rheumatology consultations, and the factors related to these wait times.
We studied Ontario patients referred to rheumatologists. Patients were identified within a primary care research database – the Electronic Medical Record Administrative data Linked Database (EMRALD) that combines comprehensive clinical data from medical records (including referral letters to specialists) with health administrative databases (diagnosis codes related to physician visits). Linking EMRs with administrative databases provides the opportunity to examine wait times on a large scale. We determined actual wait time measures to initial rheumatology visits and determine whether consultation notes are provided to family physicians. Our findings will be used to formulate strategies to improve early access to rheumatologists, and optimize shared care between rheumatologists and family physicians.
Oral Presentations
- Ontario Rheumatology Association Models of Care Meeting, April 10, 2015, Widdifield J. A novel data linkage study to evaluate wait-times to rheumatologists & patterns of care for patients with Rheumatic Diseases.
- University of Toronto Rheumatology Research Rounds, May 20, 2015, Widdifield J, The Power of Data Linkages: Linking Population Health Data with External Data Sources to Maximize the Potential of Clinical and Administrative Data.
- American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting, November 8, 2015, San Francisco, California, Widdifield J, Bernatsky S, Thorne JC, Bombardier C, Jaakkimainen RL, Ahluwalia V, Paterson JM, Ivers N, Butt D, Tu K. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015; 67 (suppl 10). Quantifying the Delays to Rheumatologist Consultation and Treatment Among Patients with Systemic Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases.
- University of Toronto Intra-City Conference Rounds, December 1, 2015, Toronto, Ontario, Widdifield J, Quantifying the Delays to Rheumatologist Consultation and Treatment Among Patients with Systemic Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases (PDF).
Poster Presentations
Presented at the 2014 American College of Rheumatology meeting.
Presented at the 2015 Canadian Rheumatology Association meeting.
Presented at the 2015 American College of Rheumatology meeting.
Presented at the 2016 Canadian Rheumatology Association meeting.
- CMA Rheumatology Wait Time Benchmarks: The Need to Tame the Queue across the Continuum of Care (PDF)
- The Quality and Continuity of Information Between Primary Care Physicians and Rheumatologists (PDF)
- Characterizing Referrals to Rheumatologists to Better Understand Care Management of Patients with Rheumatic Diseases (PDF)
Published Literature
- Jessica Widdifield, Sasha Bernatsky, J. Carter Thorne, Claire Bombardier, R. Liisa Jaakkimainen, Laura Wing, J. Michael Paterson, Noah Ivers, Debra Butt, Anne Lyddiatt, Catherine Hofstetter, Vandana Ahluwalia, and Karen Tu, Wait times to rheumatology care for patients with rheumatic diseases: a data linkage study of primary care electronic medical records and administrative data, CMAJ Open (2016)
- Widdifield, J., Tu, K., Thorne, C., Bombardier, C., Paterson, M., aakkimainen, L., Wing, L., Butt, D. A., Ivers, N., Hofstetter, C., Lyddiatt, A., Ahluwalia, V. and Bernatsky, S., Patterns of Care Among Patients Referred to Rheumatologists in Ontario, Canada. Arthritis Care Res (2017)