FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 348:1288-1289 March 27, 2003 Number 13 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear Related Article by Ayanian, J. Z. PubMed Citation

To the Editor: Patient factors that influence physicians' referrals may have exaggerated differences in outcomes between generalists and specialists in the study by Ayanian and colleagues (Nov. 21 issue).¹ Results from observational studies such as this one will be convincing only when they comprehensively assess patient factors that are central to the generalist's role in prioritizing complex problems in ill patients. Most generalists are unlikely to pursue ongoing care with cardiologists for patients with severe coexisting illnesses who are poor candidates for revascularization. Because this study did not include measures of the severity of coexisting illnesses, unmeasured severity may have . . . [Full Text of this Article]

HOME  |  SUBSCRIBE  |  SEARCH  |  CURRENT ISSUE  |  PAST ISSUES  |  COLLECTIONS  |  PRIVACY  |  TERMS OF USE  |  HELP  |  beta.nejm.org Comments and questions? Please contact us. The New England Journal of Medicine is owned, published, and copyrighted © 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.