Variation in referral rates.

General practitioner referral rates.

Interpretation is difficult There are large differences in how often general practitioners refer patients to hospital.'14 These differences are attracting growing attention-partly from the Department of Health and Social Security, which is concerned to ensure the efficient use of resources, and partly from district health authorities, some of which have tried to save money by limiting referrals...

Explaining referral variation.

detailed investigation would lead to no recommendations for change. At the other end of this wide spectrum is the possibility of professional malfeasance (see the paper by Graham Neale on p 14837), and even purposeful harmful acts are not impossible. Unlike the airline pilot, medical professionals do not share the fate of those in their care. Even if the patient dies because the hospital bums d...

Explaining variation in GP referral rates for x-rays for back pain

BACKGROUND Despite the availability of clinical guidelines for the management of low back pain (LBP), there continues to be wide variation in general practitioners' (GPs') referral rates for lumbar spine x-ray (LSX). This study aims to explain variation in GPs' referral rates for LSX from their accounts of the management of patients with low back pain. METHODS Qualitative, semi-structured int...

Irish GP referral rates and influencing factors

Background General practitioners (GPs) play a key role as the gatekeepers of access to secondary care in Ireland, and indeed in many healthcare systems worldwide [1]. This role has been shown to be crucial in providing cost-effective healthcare delivery. Our study aimed to analyse the GP referral process and the factors by which referral rates may be influenced, particularly those that are uniq...

Seasonal variation in suicide-rates.