STUDY COMPARES DOCTORS' EFFICACY IN HEART ATTACKS
J. F. L. MD
A new study raised questions about the trend of managed-care plans to rely on family doctors as the first physicians to treat heart attack victims.
Researchers at Duke University found that elderly heart attack patients who were immediately treated by a cardiologist were 15% less likely to die within a year than those who were treated by a family doctor. When general internists, who undergo more training than family doctors, were considered, the reduction in mortality for patients treated by a cardiologist was 5%.
The findings come as managed-care organizations, in an effort to control medical costs, increasingly ask primary care physicians to limit referrals to specialists and shoulder more responsibility for specialty care. In a hospital, this can influence whether a patient complaining of chest pain is seen by a generalist or admitted to a unit that specializes in coronary care.
