Primary Care Provider Awareness of IR: A Single-Center Analysis

To evaluate primary care provider awareness of interventional radiology (IR) services at a tertiary care academic medical center to identify areas of IR practice that require additional education and awareness initiatives.

An internet-based survey was distributed via email to primary care providers, including internal medicine (IM), family medicine (FM), obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN), and hospital medicine (HM) physicians in the region. The survey consisted of 17 questions regarding provider demographics, experiences with IR in their practice, awareness of IR training, and awareness of IR procedures and services.

A total of 234 of 533 invited physicians completed the survey (40% IM, 22% FM, 22% HM, and 16% OBGYN). Providers rated their knowledge of IR as poor (49, 20.3%), adequate (137, 56.9%), good (49, 20.3%), and excellent (6, 2.5%). Although 235 (97.5%) had consulted IR previously, only 141 (58.5%) had referred a patient directly to IR for an elective procedure. IR was offered as an alternative to surgical procedures never (42, 17.6%), a quarter of the time (101, 42.3%), half of the time (61, 25.5%), three-quarters of the time (27, 11.3%), and every time (8, 3.35%). Most respondents (161, 67.4%) learned the most about IR procedures during residency. Most (180, 75.3%) indicated that they would like to learn more about IR.

These findings indicate that more can be done to educate providers about the potential role of IR in patient care. Provider awareness is limited regarding procedures that are increasingly popular in the IR community. This study helps to identify specific areas of IR in which awareness of can be increased.