Guidance research in case of chest pain

The research is conducted by the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the University of Maastricht

"Many of the patients who are now referred to the cardiologist do not seem to have any cardiac problems by the "This ensures high health costs, high work pressure for cardiologists and creates unnecessary stress for the patient," says Tobias Bonten, LUMC Research Manager, who reports 1400 people a day thoracic to their general practitioner

A decision model for determining whether a person should consult a cardiologist, consisting of five questions, has been used successfully in Germany for several years Maastricht and Leiden researchers add a test

Saving

"If the family doctor can safely determine the best strategy with such help, ela means a great improvement for the general practitioner and the patient, "says Maastricht doctor Robert Willemsen. The number of references could be reduced by 10%. According to researchers, this translates into an annual saving of 60 million euros.

Ninety general cabinets and five generalists are divided into two groups, half of which use the new decision rule and the other half do not. The result of the research is expected in about two years.