title: General practitioner referrals to a department of emergency medicine.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the number and content of general practitioner referrals letters and telephone calls in 1000 consecutive patterns and assess the outcome for the referred patients. Communication between GPs and emergency medicine staff was of generally acceptable quality but could be improved in areas of letter content and call back to GPs by emergency medicine staff.
authors.affiliation: Smithton Surgery, Tasmania.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cooling
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walpole
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013648:Tasmania; D014218:Triage