Table 2.

Physician attitudes regarding the collaborative care of a hypothetical patient with CKD

Characteristica/Physician Attitudes	All (n = 244)	PCPs (n = 124)	Nephrologists (n = 120)	P
Perceived ancillary support				<0.001
lacking	102 (42)	68 (55)	34 (28)
sufficient	139 (57)	55 (44)	84 (70)
Medical care I provide slows diseaseb				<0.001
no	34 (14)	28 (23)	6 (5)
yes	207 (85)	94 (76)	113 (94)
Insurance plays role in referralc				0.014
never/rarely	205 (84)	112 (90)	93 (78)
often/always	33 (14)	9 (7)	24 (20)
Difficulty referring to nephrologyd				NA
never/rarely	–	106 (85)
often/always		17 (14)	–
Patients referred too latee				NA
disagree	–	–	55 (46)
agree			63 (53)
Inappropriate medicationsf				NA
disagree	–	–	82 (68)
agree			35 (29)
Practice too full to accommodateg				NA
disagree	–	–	105 (88)
agree			11 (9)

Values expressed as number (percent). Percentages may not equal 100% because of missing values.

^aOf 244 physicians recommending nephrology referral and answering question regarding collaborative care.

^bPhysicians were asked if they believed the medical care they implemented for patients such as in the hypothetical scenario helps to slow progression of kidney disease and improve outcomes.

^cPCPs were asked how often insurance plays a role in their decision to refer to nephrology. Nephrologists were asked if they felt health insurance restricts PCPs' abilities to refer early.

^dPCPs were asked how often they had difficulty referring to nephrology.

^eNephrologists were asked if they felt patients were referred to nephrology late in their care, without time to potentially slow progression of their CKD.

^fNephrologists were asked if they felt patients referred to them have been prescribed inappropriate medication regimens.

^gNephrologists were asked if they felt they had little capacity to accommodate early CKD patients.