biostudies-literatureUnknown5Hall H<h4>Background</h4>Effective triage - directing patients with low back pain to appropriate treatment or correct referral - is fundamental to quality care. Without guidelines, a physician's initial decision may lead to unnecessary investigation, unneeded intervention or unwarranted consultation. <i>Methods:</i> To compare the functional outcomes of patients triaged by a classification based on clinical presentation with those of patients selected at the clinicians' discretion, an insurance-owned hospital network employed forty-seven specially-trained physical therapists, working within participating primary care practices, to classify low back pain patients into specific Patterns of Pain. Between October 2017 and April 2019, the primary care physicians used this classification, derived entiNorth American Spine Society journal100051https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8819953biostudies-literatureA successful, cost-effective low back pain triage system: a pilot study.PMC8819953Haring KCheng BCHall HFischer MProstko ERfalseA successful, cost-effective low back pain triage system: a pilot study.<h4>Background</h4>Effective triage - directing patients with low back pain to appropriate treatment or correct referral - is fundamental to quality care. Without guidelines, a physician's initial decision may lead to unnecessary investigation, unneeded intervention or unwarranted consultation. <i>Methods:</i> To compare the functional outcomes of patients triaged by a classification based on clinical presentation with those of patients selected at the clinicians' discretion, an insurance-owned hospital network employed forty-seven specially-trained physical therapists, working within participating primary care practices, to classify low back pain patients into specific Patterns of Pain. Between October 2017 and April 2019, the primary care physicians used this classification, derived enti2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021 Mar2025-04-18T16:34:46.709Z2025-04-07T03:52:41.742ZS-EPMC88199533514161710.1016/j.xnsj.2021.100051