Pilot study: The effectiveness of physiotherapy-led screening for patients requiring an orthopedic intervention

Abstract

LAY SUMMARY In Canada, patients can wait over a year to be seen by an orthopedic surgeon. To reduce wait times, physiotherapists have been employed in some practice areas to triage patients prior to being seen by an orthopedic surgeon. This study looked at different forms of triage by using physiotherapists to screen electronic medical records (EMR) to determine if patients needed orthopedic intervention or conservative management. To guide the physiotherapists, a screening tool was created. The study compared the recommendations of the physiotherapists with those of an orthopedic surgeon. The results showed that, most of the time, physiotherapists using the screening tool successfully identified whether a patient needed to see an orthopedic surgeon or could be treated with physiotherapy. This type of screening process may decrease wait times to see an orthopedic surgeon and improve access to physiotherapy or other treatments.