How Triage Works

After a referral is received, the following may occur:

  1. Accepted and placed on the waitlist
  2. Additional information requested if the referral is incomplete
  3. Referral is re-directed to another pathway

Triage Categories and Targets

Urgent (less than 1 month)

If your patient has a medical emergency, phone the office or have the patient go to the emergency room. Our faxes are not monitored during office closures, which can result in delays in care.

  • Giant cell arteritis
  • Organ-threatening connective tissue disease or vasculitis

Semi-urgent (3-4 months)

  • New onset inflammatory arthritis
  • Ankylosing spondylitis
  • Non-organ threatening connective tissue disease
  • Polymyalgia rheumatica
  • Sarcoidosis
  • IgG4 related disease

Routine (6-12 months)

  • Transfer of care from another rheumatologist
  • Sjogren’s disease
  • Gout or pseudogout

Common Reasons for Redirection

Referrals may be redirected when:

  • Patient lives outside our catchment area (see here)
  • Patient is under the age of 18
  • The clinical pattern is non-inflammatory
  • There is no joint swelling
  • Symptoms fit another disease like osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia
  • Symptoms are not specific for rheumatic disease
    • The most common non-specific symptoms are “fatigue”, joint pain/”polyarthralgia” and “rash”
  • Inflammatory markers (CRP, ESR) are normal
  • Serology (RF, CCP, ANA, etc.) are normal

Redirection is intended to ensure the patient is referred to an appropriate provider, avoid unnecessary waits and support reassessment if symptoms evolve