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Allergy care in the next millennium: Guidelines for the specialty

1997; Elsevier BV; Volume: 99; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0091-6749(97)80003-6

1097-6825

Michael Kaliner,

Respiratory and Cough-Related Research

When the winds of change blow, some build fences while others build windmills. The winds of change are blowing and the specialty of allergy is faced with this dilemma: Should we fight to keep our established health care system and its inherent rewards or should we accommodate to the wind and find rewards in a new health care domain? In my mind, there is little choice. We have to find our way in the changed health care environment, and we must do so both by providing cost-effective care to the millions of patients who have allergic diseases and by establishing ourselves as a referral source in cooperation with both primary care physicians and other specialists. Thus the practice of our specialty must evolve. We must demonstrate our value both in cost savings and in clinical efficacy. We must also maintain or establish our role as appropriate specialists for referral by primary care physicians (PCPs) for consultation in the traditional allergic diseases, including asthma, and for important diseases not previously referred to the allergist, such as sinusitis.