Continuity of care in the referral process: an analysis of family physicians' expectations of consultants.

A total of 497 referrals from a rural family practice training center are analyzed from the perspective of the referring physicians' expectations for continuing care of the referred patient. Those expectations were stated explicitly at the time of referral within three mutually exclusive categories. Referral expectations are partitioned by diagnostic groups and by specialty of the consultant. Analysis suggests that the referring physicians' expectations for continuing care of the referred patient vary significantly depending upon the specialty of the consultant.