OBJECTIVES To illuminate patterns observed in International Cancer Benchmarking Programme studies by extending understanding of the various influences on presentation and referral with cancer symptoms. DESIGN Cross-country comparison of Denmark, England and Sweden with qualitative analysis of in-depth interview accounts of the prediagnostic process in lung or bowel cancer. PARTICIPANTS 155 ...

BACKGROUND The current model of general practitioner referral of patients to hospital specialists in the UK is sometimes associated with unnecessary duplication of investigations and treatments. We aimed to compare joint teleconsultations between general practitioners, specialists, and patients (virtual outreach) with standard outpatient referral. METHODS Virtual outreach services were establ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To investigate the numbers and characteristics of patients with ophthalmological accidents and emergencies presenting to hospitals. DESIGN Prospective survey over eight weeks. SETTING Two general and one ophthalmic accident and emergency departments, two general outpatient departments, and an eye hospital ward consulting room (all in two teaching hospitals) in Newcastle upon...

BACKGROUND Late nephrology referral, before initiation of dialysis treatment, is associated with adverse outcome. OBJECTIVES To investigate the implications of late nephrology referral on mortality among dialysis patients in Israel. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 200 incident dialysis patients. Patients were defined as late referrals if they started dialysis less than 3 months after th...

Tertiary teledermatology (TTD), where a general dermatologist consults a specialized dermatologist on difficult cases, is a relatively new telemedicine service. We evaluated TTD in a Dutch university hospital, where 13 general dermatologists used TTD to consult 11 specialized dermatologists and two residents at the university medical centre. We measured the avoided referrals to the university c...

BACKGROUND Since knee complaints are common among athletes and are frequently presented in general practice, it is of interest to investigate the type of knee complaints represented in general practice of athletes in comparison with those of non-athletes. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the differences in type of knee complaints between sport participants, in this study defin...

The present study conceptualizes a destination branding model that reflects the process of tourist decision making. The model integrates key sequential concepts such as brand knowledge, brand trust, and brand loyalty. Destination brand knowledge is further defined by its constituents of brand awareness, cognitive brand image, and affective brand image. The concept of brand trust is defined in t...

PURPOSE A Web-based consultation system (telenephrology) enables family physicians to consult a nephrologist about a patient with chronic kidney disease. Relevant data are exported from the patient's electronic file to a protected digital environment from which advice can be formulated by the nephrologist. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the potential of telenephrology to reduce...