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.
Key Indexing Terms
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Article info
Publication history
Received in revised form:
December 9,
2003
Received:
August 6,
2003
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
