Improving patient flow of people with rheumatoid arthritis has the potential to simultaneously improve health outcomes and reduce direct costs

Table 5 Results of our health economic modelling of a reconfiguration of patient flow of Austrian patients with suspected RA

	Patients (n)
All undifferentiated arthropathies	5,294
All RA (male and female)	1,765
Not (yet) diagnosed with RA by primary care physicians	1,200
Not (yet) diagnosed with RA by rheumatologists	95
Cost impact of existing referral pattern with suggested modified approach	EUR
Cost savings GP visits	100,188

These annual savings accrue as the sum of reduced GP visits and reduced diagnostic analyses taken at the GP level

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