Background Physician referrals are a critical step in directing patients to high-quality
specialists. Despite efforts to encourage referrals to high-volume hospitals, many patients …

Referring patients to other physicians is one of the most fundamental and frequently
performed tasks in clinical practice. In 2009, referrals to other physicians were made during …

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Specialty referral patterns can affect health care costs as well
as clinical outcomes. For a given clinical problem, referring physicians usually have a choice …

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

Background: Approximately one fourth of practicing physicians in the United States
graduated from medical schools in other countries. It is unknown how the role of …

Context: In the United States, more than a third of patients are referred to a specialist each
year, and specialist visits constitute more than half of outpatient visits. Despite the frequency …

Purpose Ideally, a referral from a primary care physician (PCP) to a specialist results in a
completed specialty appointment with results available to the PCP. This is defined as …

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVES: Rates and patterns of referrals by family physicians to specialists
have significant effects on numerous aspects of medical care. Understanding the referral …

Background Within the health system, communication between the different levels of care is
essential for the patients' clinical pathways and medical treatment. This includes the referral …

Objective To compare the quality of referrals of patients with complex medical problems from
nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and physicians to general internists …