The By Deborah Pfluger
To Building Physician Referrals Is Golden A
STUDY PUBLISHED EARLIER this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine about the rising incidence of physician referrals has created quite a bit of interest and concern. Between 1999 and 2009, according to the study, the percentage of ambulatory visits that resulted in a referral
nearly doubled from 4.8% to 9.3%. Referral rates were higher for both specialists and primary care physicians, but some specialists receive a higher number of referrals. A recent survey of prominent family physicians in Austin indicated that they are most likely to make referrals for cardiology, ophthalmology, nephrology, general surgery, otolaryngology, orthopedics, urology, rheumatology, dermatol- ogy and physical therapy, among others. They tend to make few referrals for bariatrics, allergy issues and some medical subspecialties like endocrinology, pulmonology and gastroenterology.
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