Health Services and Outcomes Research
Atrial Fibrillation Friday, July 26th, 2013J Am Heart Assoc: July 18, 2013
Provider Specialty and Atrial Fibrillation Treatment Strategies in United States Community Practice: Findings From the ORBIT‐AF Registry
ackground The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) continues to increase; however, there are limited data describing the division of care among practitioners in the community and whether care differs depending on provider specialty.
Methods and Results Using the Outcomes Registry for Better Informed Treatment of AF (ORBIT‐AF) Registry, we described patient characteristics and AF management strategies in ambulatory clinic practice settings, including electrophysiology (EP), general cardiology, and primary care. A total of 10 097 patients were included; of these, 1544 (15.3%) were cared for by an EP provider, 6584 (65.2%) by a cardiology provider, and 1969 (19.5%) by an internal medicine/primary care provider. Compared with those patients who were cared for by cardiologists or internal medicine/primary care providers, patients cared for by EP providers were younger (median age, 73 years [interquartile range, IQR, 64, 80 years, Q1, Q3] versus 75 years [IQR, 67, 82 years] for cardiology and versus 76 years [IQR, 68, 82 years] for primary care). Read more
