Do Cardiologists Have Higher Thresholds for Recommending Coronary Arteriography Than Family Physicians?
Publication/Presentation Date
12-1-1987
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to use a new model of decision making to understand variability in physicians' utilization of diagnostic tests. We studied physicians' recommendations for coronary arteriography in hypothetical patients with chest pain by analyzing responses of 235 cardiologists and family physicians. Thresholds for testing were derived by obtaining estimates of the probability of disease and recommendations for coronary arteriography before and after an exercise test. We found that cardiologists compared with family practitioners had a significantly higher decision threshold and recommended coronary arteriography in fewer patients. These findings suggest that analyzing physicians' decision-making thresholds may be used to characterize differences in the practice behavior of groups of physicians.
Volume
22
Issue
5
First Page
623
Last Page
635
ISSN
0017-9124
Published In/Presented At
Young, M. J., Fried, L. S., Eisenberg, J., Hershey, J., & Williams, S. (1987). Do cardiologists have higher thresholds for recommending coronary arteriography than family physicians?. Health Services Research, 22(5), 623-635.
Disciplines
Medical Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
3692862
LVHN link
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=3692862&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Department(s)
Department of Medicine, Department of Medicine Faculty
Document Type
Article