Influencing physician referrals.
Primary care physicians have several external sources of information available when referring a patient to a specialist. The most-used sources were a fellow physician, followed by the specialist, the patient or the patient's family, and to a lesser extent, hospital-controlled sources including referral directories, call services, and sales representatives. The authors tested a cost-benefit model where source usage was predicted to increase as the costs of using the source decreased and benefits increased.
Bowers
M R
MR
School of Business, University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Swan
J E
JE
Taylor
J A
JA
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003657:Decision Making; D006302:Health Services Research; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000191:economics*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D018803:Models, Economic; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000191:economics*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States