2011 Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 8-13
This study was conducted to assess diagnostic skills between urology specialists and non-specialist when liaison critical pathway was used in transfer of both suspected and diagnosed prostate cancer patients. The levels of patient's confidence towards the two separate groups of liaison doctors were also assessed.
The pathway was used for 147 patients between November 2007 to February 2009, of which 77 had been introduced to the urologists and 70 to non-urologists. By February2010, 10(13.0%) patients returned to our hospital from urological cooperating institution and 14(20.0%) from non-urological. Of the 10 patients revisited from urological institute, 8(10.4%) were for reason of increased prostate specific antigen (PSA) level. Among them, 6 patients were diagnosed as biochemical recurrence and 1 as prostate cancer. As for patients revisiting from non-urological institutes, 12 out of 14 patients (17.1%) had increased PSA levels, 5 were diagnosed with biochemical recurrence and 2 with prostate cancer. Doctor confidence assessment was conducted toward 64 patients working with urologists and 54 with non-urologists for whom it was possible to perform follow-up observation, and no significant difference in the diagnostic capability of the prostate cancer between both home doctors was found.
Moreover, according to the questionnaire carried out simultaneously involving 60 patients, no substantial psychological difference were observed in patients that agreed to participate in the medical cooperation, regardless of the specializations of the home doctors. As a result, we believe that, by clearly defining the outcome, it is possible to establish efficient medical cooperation using regional liaison critical pathway, regardless of the partner doctor being a non-specialist.
