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Show 206 Priscilla Auduong The demand for rheumatologic care has increased substantially due to several factors: emphasis on the need for earlier diagnosis and treatment of some diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), demand for access to new and expensive therapies, and the increasing prevalence of de-generative joint disease and soft-tissue syndromes as the population ages (De Coster et al, 2008). Because this increasing demand is met by a shortage of rheumatologists, a need to best man-age and allocate the available resources is evident. Working closely with the University Hospital Rheumatology Clinic, we propose an evidence-based tool in order to more effectively prioritize patients. This tool will emphasize accurate triaging of RA referrals from primary care physicians, and provide timely assessment of these patients in sub-specialty care, specifically rheumatology. As part of the process of designing a prototypical priority referral questionnaire, a literature review was conducted. The objective of the literature review was to identify preexisting priority and triage models/tools developed to guide referrals from primary care physicians to specialty care. Relevant questions and identifying factors drawn from each research article were placed into distinct categories for review by rheumatologists and the nurse practitioner within the Uni-versity network. We aim to develop a prototypical triage system to reform the quality and effectiveness of the re-ferral system, in addition to increasing the speed of the referral process and decreasing the time to appointment. This tool has broad application potential, addressing the necessity and need of prioritization across all departments of healthcare. The successful development of this tool will contribute to the overall goal of effectively improving diagnosis and treatment of patients in many areas of healthcare. AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO PRIORITIZATION OF PATIENT REFERRALS IN RHEUMATOLOGY Priscilla Auduong, Jessica McPhail, Brandon Bacon (Jim Agutter) University Health Sciences Innovation Lab, Health Sciences LEAP University of Utah Health sciences leap program spring 2012 Jessica McPhail Brandon Bacon Jim Agutter |