Allied Health in Rheumatology Triage Project

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02465879

Acronym

AHRT

Enrollment

295

Registered

2015-06-09

Start date

2015-05-31

Completion date

2015-12-31

Last updated

2016-06-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Inflammatory Arthritis

Keywords

Psoriatic arthritis, Ankylosing spondylitis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Seronegative

Brief summary

There is accumulating evidence that early treatment leads to better outcomes for patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA). Triage, which is the process of identifying the urgency of a patient's disease state efficiently and correctly, may facilitate early referral to a rheumatologist. Several studies have suggested that placing allied health professionals (occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, etc.) in a triage roll may reduce wait time for patients with suspected IA. The goal of this investigation will be to demonstrate the system-level impact of an Arthritis Society extended role occupational therapist (OT) or physical therapist (PT) working in a triage role in improving access to rheumatologists for people with IA. In this study two groups will be observed: intervention and usual care as determined by historical chart review. Wait times will be compared between both groups.

Interventions

OTHERTherapist Triage

An extended role occupational or physical therapist will triage each subject in the study to determine the urgency of their case and how soon they need to see the rheumatologist.

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* New referrals from a GP * Adults with possible IA (determined by rheumatologist through paper triage)

Exclusion criteria

* Currently on a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) * Previously seen by a rheumatologist. * FM, non-IA OA; soft tissue rheumatism; mechanical LBP

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Time to first visit with the rheumatologist (wait time)	3 months

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Time to diagnosis	3 months
Time to treatment (disease-modifying antirheumatic drug)	3 months

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026