Improving Appropriate Access to Care With Central Referral and Triage in Rheumatology.

Objective: To evaluate the short-term and long-term impact of a centralized system for the intake and triage of rheumatology referrals on access to care and referral quality.

Methods: An innovative central referral process, the Central Referral and Triage in Rheumatology (CReATe Rheum) program, was implemented in 2006, serving a referral base of 2 million people. Referrals are received in a central office, triaged by trained nurses, and assigned to the next available appointment on a prioritized basis.

Clinical and serological analysis of patients with positive anticyclic citrullinated Peptide antibodies referred through a Rheumatology Central Triage System.

Objective: Anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) are a highly specific and sensitive biomarker for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Some patients who were found to have a positive ACPA test were referred to our Rheumatology Central Triage (CT; Calgary, Alberta, Canada) for assessment by a rheumatologist. The objectives of our study were to determine the clinical accuracy of ACPA in establishing a diagnosis of RA in a real-time clinical setting.