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Online and call center referral for endocrine surgical pathology within institutions
Author(s) -
Dhillon Vaninder K.,
Khadem Mai G.,
Tufano Ralph P.,
Russell Jonathon O.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.26942
Subject(s) - otorhinolaryngology , medicine , referral , family medicine , general surgery , multidisciplinary approach , thyroid , endocrine surgery , accreditation , surgery , medical education , social science , sociology
Objectives/Hypothesis We hypothesized that self‐referred patients to academic centers will be equally distributed between general surgery and otolaryngology departments that perform thyroid surgery. We sought to quantify disparities in the assignment of these self‐referred patients who may reach an institution through call centers or online pathways. Study design Cross‐sectional survey. Methods Key words “thyroid surgery” and “thyroid cancer” were used along with the name of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–listed otolaryngology program in both Google and Bing search engines. The top three search results for departments were reviewed, and a tally was given to general surgery (GS), otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (OLHNS), or neither. A multidisciplinary center with both GS and OLHNS was recorded as “equitable.” Telephone calls were tallied if they were directed to GS or OLHNS. Results Out of 400 program tallies, 117 (29.25%) patients were directed to GS and 50 (12.5%) were directed to OLHNS. An additional 181 (45.25%) were directed to neither group (“neither”) ( P < .05). Fifty‐two (13%) of the patients were referred to multidisciplinary groups (“equitable”). A telephone call survey had 62 patients (62%) assigned to a general surgeon, as opposed to 38 (38%) for OLHNS ( P < .05). Five institutions offered a multidisciplinary group when searching with Bing, and 11 were found by searching with Google. Conclusions There is not an equal distribution of self‐referred patients with thyroid surgical pathology. It may be important to increase the online presence of OLHNS surgeons who perform thyroid surgery at academic medical institutions. Multidisciplinary centers focused on thyroid and parathyroid surgical disease represents one model of assigning self‐referred patients. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope , 1977–1981, 2018