Physician use of the curbside consultation to address information needs: report on a collective case study

The author reports key findings from a doctoral dissertation investigating what the curbside consultation is, how and why physicians use it, and what the implications for health sciences library services might be. SETTINGS/INFORMANTS: Primary informants included sixteen primary care physicians at six sites in one Midwestern state. Additional informants included twenty-eight specialists and subspecialists identified by the primary informants as colleagues who provided curbside consultations.

Qualitative research methods were used, including field observations, formal and informal interviews, and conversations with peer review physicians.

Despite a lack of consensus about what constitutes a "good" curbside consultation, physician informants reported that curbside consultations were part of their medical education and that they continued to take part in them for a number of reasons. Tacit rules govern curbside consultation interactions, and negative consequences result when the rules are misunderstood or not observed.

Acknowledging and understanding physicians' use of the curbside consultation to obtain and construct knowledge may suggest new ways for health sciences librarians to work with physicians in locating, diffusing, and disseminating clinical information.