The Primary Care Provider and the Care of Skin Disease
Open Access
- 1 January 2001
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of Dermatology
- Vol. 137 (1) , 25-29
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archderm.137.1.25
Abstract
PATIENTS WITH skin disorders are extremely common. Approximately 6%of visits to all physicians entail a problem of the skin, hair, or nails;however, only approximately 40% of these patients are seen by dermatologists.1 In primary care settings, the proportion of patientvisits involving dermatologic complaints is even higher, where up to one fourthof visits involve skin disorders.2 As manyhealth care systems have adopted a "gatekeeper" system, whereby a patientmust first see his or her primary care provider (PCP), who then determineswhether the patient is in need of specialty care, information is clearly neededregarding the quality of dermatologic care delivered by PCPs.Keywords
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- How well do physicians recognize melanoma and other problem lesions?Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1986