Interprofessional Referral Patterns in an Integrated Medical System
Received 6 August 2003; received in revised form 9 December 2003
Objective
To determine the interreferral patterns among physicians and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers in an independent practice association integrated medical system.
Method
Data from a 1-year period were collected on referral patterns, diagnosis, number of visits, cost, and qualitative aspects of patient care. The independent practice association provided care for approximately 12000 patients.
Results
In the selected integrative network, there are those primary care physicians (PCPs) who refer and those who do not. Among those PCPs that refer to CAM, a preference is shown for a limited number of providers to whom they refer. Although doctors of chiropractic get more referrals, they are also more concentrated among selected providers than are doctors of oriental medicine.
Conclusion
This study shows the interreferral patterns among the PCP and CAM providers working within an integrated medical system. One effect of being in the network for doctors of chiropractic and doctors of oriental medicine might be the possible interreferrals between each other.
aProfessor, UCLA School of Dentistry, Senior Health Consultant at RAND and a Research Professor at SCU, Whittier, Calif
bProfessor and Dean of Research, Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCU), Whittier, Calif
dBiostatistician, Research Division, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, Calif
Submit requests for reprints to: Ian Coulter, PhD, Director, University of California Education Abroad Program, Suite #05, Level 5, 470 Collins St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.
ABSTRACT