Timely referral can be an essential component of good patient care.

For example, delayed nephrology consultation was found to be associated with greater mortality and increased risk of dialysis dependence at hospital discharge (PLOS One (2013;8:e70482) among critically ill patients with acute kidney injury. 

And a recent study of men who underwent a TRUS-guided prostate biopsy because of an abnormal PSA level showed that a delay in referral to a tertiary level urologist of 18 months or more was associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with a grade 4 prostate cancer (Prostate 2013;73:1263-1269).

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Renal & Urology News would like to ask nephrologists and urologists the following poll question.