Primary care physician referral patterns in Ontario, Canada: a descriptive analysis of self-reported referral data

BMC Family Practice

Research Article

Isabella Moroz¹  Clare Liddy²  Erin Keely³  Sadaf Arbab-Tafti⁴ 

[1] C.T. Lamont Primary Healthcare Research Centre, Bruyère Research Institute, 43 Bruyere St, Annex E, Room 106, K1N 5C8, Ottawa, ON, Canada;C.T. Lamont Primary Healthcare Research Centre, Bruyère Research Institute, 43 Bruyere St, Annex E, Room 106, K1N 5C8, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Division of Endocrinology/Metabolism, The Ottawa Hospital, 1967 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa, ON, Canada;

关键词: Primary care;    Referrals;    Specialist care;    Allied health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12875-017-0654-9

 received in 2017-04-25, accepted in 2017-08-09,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn many countries, the referral-consultation process faces a number of challenges from inefficiencies and rising demand, resulting in excessive wait times for many specialties. We collected referral data from a sample of family doctors across the province of Ontario, Canada as part of a larger program of research. The purpose of this study is to describe referral patterns from primary care to specialist and allied health services from the primary care perspective.MethodsWe conducted a prospective study of patient referral data submitted by primary care providers (PCP) from 20 clinics across Ontario between June 2014 and January 2016. Monthly referral volumes expressed as a total number of referrals to all medical and allied health professionals per month. For each referral, we also collected data on the specialty type, reason for referral, and whether the referral was for a procedure.ResultsPCPs submitted a median of 26 referrals per month (interquartile range 11.5 to 31.8). Of 9509 referrals eligible for analysis, 97.8% were directed to medical professionals and 2.2% to allied health professionals. 55% of medical referrals were directed to non-surgical specialties and 44.8% to surgical specialties. Medical referrals were for procedures in 30.8% of cases and non-procedural in 40.9%. Gastroenterology received the largest share (11.2%) of medical referrals, of which 62.3% were for colonoscopies. Psychology received the largest share (28.3%) of referrals to allied health professionals.ConclusionWe described patterns of patient referral from primary care to specialist and allied health services for 30 PCPs in 20 clinics across Ontario. Gastroenterology received the largest share of referrals, nearly two-thirds of which were for colonoscopies. Future studies should explore the use of virtual care to help manage non-procedural referrals and examine the impact that procedural referrals have on wait times for gastroenterology.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017