Comparison of specialty referral patterns of primary care providers.

Difficulty, perceived by 17 treatment facilities, of obtaining specialty referral appointments at Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center (DDEAMC), a major referral center, prompted this study that utilizes provider profiling as a tool to answer three questions that examine the problem: (1) Is the difficulty in obtaining referral appointments real or perceived? (2) Are the referral patterns of the providers contributing factors in the perceived inability to meet the demand for specialty appointments? (3) If the providers' referral patterns are a contributing factor, which provider behaviors need to be modified? Major findings of the study included: 1. the referral rate of the primary care providers was 8 percent, compared to the national average of 7.5 percent; 2. interns and residents were provider outliers with referral rates of 11.7 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively; and 3. of the 32,182 referral appointments requested during Fiscal Year 1999, slightly less than 2.4 percent were disengaged. Data analysis indicates opportunities for improvement of referral rates in DDEAMC's department of primary care by addressing the referral practices of residents and interns, which will therefore decrease the number of disengaged patients. By decreasing the number of referrals, the organization will more effectively control internal costs in an era of shrinking budgets.