What question did this study set out to answer?

This study evaluates the effectiveness of general internal medicine consultations with specialty departments in establishing correct diagnoses.

Generalist-to-specialist diagnostic consultations in a tertiary hospital: an outcome-based retrospective observational study

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

Retrospective observational study evaluates outcome-based criteria in diagnostic consultations in adults, indicating areas for improvement.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of general internal medicine consultations with specialty departments in establishing correct diagnoses.
Retrospective, single-center observational study conducted at a university hospital in Japan.
Analyzed consultations from general internal medicine to specialty departments for patients aged 15 and older from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021.
Primary outcome measured was the proportion of consultations fulfilling pre-specified, outcome-based criteria.
Out of 610 consultations for 454 patients, 352 (57.7%) were diagnostic consultations.
229 of these consultations (65.1%) met the outcome-based criteria.
Factors associated with 123 consultations (34.9%) not meeting criteria included diagnostic difficulties (33.3%), inadequate test implementation (31.7%), and insufficient patient information (9.8%).

Kawamura et al. (2026) studied this question.

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Retrospective observational study evaluates outcome-based criteria in diagnostic consultations in adults, indicating areas for improvement.