BACKGROUND. Increasing enrollment in managed care organizations and dissatisfaction
with policies to restrict direct access to specialists have intensified interest in referrals from …

BACKGROUND. Appropriate utilization of primary and specialty care has stimulated
substantial debate, but the portion of the discussion focused on policies that restrict or …

Background Although numerous changes are apparent in the US health care system, little is
known about how these changes have altered the work of primary care physicians. Methods …

PURPOSE Increasing use of specialist services in the United States is leading to a
perception of a specialist shortage. Little is known, however, about the nature of care …

OBJECTIVE: To study patterns of referral between primary and specialty care providers
among Medicare beneficiaries and to identify correlates of the probability of referral. DATA …

* OBJECTIVE We tested the hypothesis that the frequency with which patients present to
primary care physicians with certain types of health problems is inversely related to the …

OBJECTIVE: To determine if primary care physician specialty is associated with differences
in use of health services. DATA SOURCES: Automated outpatient diagnostic, utilization, and …

BACKGROUND Because it is possible that part of the variability in frequency of interventions
and even in outcomes results from the variability in referral patterns of primary care …

OBJECTIVE: To examine primary care physician referral rate variations, including their
extent and their stability over time and across diagnostic categories. DATA SOURCES …

BACKGROUND We wanted to determine the importance of factors in primary care
physicians' choice of specialist when referring patients and to compare importance ratings …