Patients Need Help in Completing Specialist Referrals

Patients referred for specialist care are most likely to complete the referral if they have scheduling help from their primary care physician, a study in Annals of Family Medicine finds.
Researchers examined 776 referrals made by clinicians in 81 practices in 30 states. Both physicians and patients filled out questionnaires at the time of referral and then again 3 months later. Patients reported having completed 83% of referrals. Almost half the patients not completing referrals believed the problem had resolved, about a third said they lacked the time to complete the referral, and about a quarter disagreed with their physician on the need for a referral.
The best predictors of a completed referral were a long-standing relationship with the primary care physician and scheduling help from that physician's office. On the other hand, the best predictor of an incomplete referral was having Medicaid insurance.