title: Referral letters: are form letters better?
abstract: An essential mode of contact between general practitioners (GPs) and hospital staff is the referral letter. This must be clear and concise with sufficient information to aid the GP, the consultant and the patient. In order to ensure this, a proposal was made for the use of a structured or standardized referral letter: a form letter. This report shows that form letters were shorter than typed letters. Form letters were also proven to contain more information than nonform letters.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, School of Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arroll
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hawken
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nicholson
mesh_terms: D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies