Doctor to Doctor referrals; the most important factor

When referring to a specialist, what factors are most important to the Primary Care Physician(PCP)?

1) Quality: Of course, PCPs expect the work performed by a specialist to be performed at the highest quality. However, no matter how experienced the specialist may be, occasionally procedures provided by the specialist will be unsuccessful. PCPs trust the specialist they are referring to and will accept the failed procedure better if there is communication from the specialist; explaining what possibly went wrong. There is nothing worse than finding out about a failed treatment from the patient. Failure to communicate during these critical moments is frustrating to the patient and especially to the PCP. If you don't talk about it with the PCP, the patient's perspective will be the only opinion heard. This results in a lack of trust from the PCP. 2) Bedside Manner: Because specialists do not see each patient on an on-going basis, there tends to be less effort in providing a great bedside manner. When a patient returns to their PCP and indicates that the specialist treated them poorly, obviously, the PCP is less likely to refer. Often, a lack of competition (no other specialist in town) results in a lack of caring by the specialist. However, the specialist should not expect to forever be the only gig in town. If the specialist cares about PCP and the referrals coming in, he/she should make sure to take time with the patients and treat them properly. 3) Communication: Quality of Care and Bedside Manner are very important to PCPs. However, Communication is the most important factor. This is illustrated by the statistic showing that the #1 reason for a PCP to stop referring to a specialist is because of lack of communication by the specialist. Did the patient schedule an appointment? How did the appointment and procedure go? What follow-up care will the PCP need to provide? Prompt returning of the patient to the PCP. Communication is difficult because of the following reasons. 1) Doctors are busy. It is tough finding a time when both doctors happen to be able to talk on the phone. 2) Sharing documents that help explain what happened and how to provide proper followup care cannot be shared over regular email, (Non-Hippa compliant). 3) Faxed papers need to be re-scanned back into electronic form. (All medical offices need to be paperless by 2014) Referral.IM, solves all of these problems. Communication among PCPs and specialists has never been easier and more effective. Dr. Robert L. Barrick DDS

Study on the problems with the professional referring process

As you can see, between 63% to 82% of patients do not make their appointment with the specialist. Referral.IM's own internal study has shown that as much as 40% of referrals do not follow through. Ann Fam Med. 2007 July; 5(4): 361–367. doi: 10.1370/afm.703 PMCID: PMC1934973 Introduction: Specialty referrals are one of several management options available to primary care physicians. The effectiveness of specialty referrals as a management tool depends not only on the quality of physician decision making—when and for whom to obtain specialty care—but also on the likelihood that patients referred choose to complete the referral by attending one or more specialist visits. Although much is published on the determinants of primary care physician referral decision making,1–3 much less is known about referral completion. Based on chart audits and physician survey, prior studies have found that 63% to 82% of patients referred from primary care settings ultimately attend a consultation with the type of specialist to whom they were referred.4–6 The consultation and referral process. A report from NEON. Northeastern Ohio Network Research Group. Bourguet C, Gilchrist V, McCord G. Source Division of Community Health Sciences, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown 44272-0095, USA. Abstract

Introduction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dentist creates software to solve his own problem St. George, Utah — January 16, 2013 — Referral.IM (www.Referral.IM) today announced the release of their flagship, cloud-based software product designed to significantly reduce the number of dental and medical referrals that slip through the cracks in the current system. Dr. Robert Barrick, Founder and CRO (Chief Referral Officer) of Referral.IM, set out to solve the problem by developing a secure, web-based service for passing instant referrals that can be implemented in any office in less than two minutes. "I want to solve a problem I see in how professional referring occurs today," Dr. Barrick said. "I was frustrated, not knowing if my patients even made it to the specialist I recommended to them. In a world where we have instant replay, instant oatmeal, and yes, even instant messaging, I couldn’t believe we struggled to get effective communication between doctors.” Currently, the most common way of referring a patient is the passing of a business card with verbal instructions for the patient to call and make their own appointment. The patient is responsible to then call a complete stranger and try to explain their problem, and why they were referred, over the phone. A major medical study showed that not knowing the specialist, card misplacement, and procrastination are the main reasons the patient never makes the phone call. Specialists lose up to one-third of all their potential patients each month and they don't have a clue that they even exist. This results in tens of thousands of lost revenue dollars. Patients miss out on receiving important follow up treatment. And the referring practitioner, is left picking up the pieces of a medically compromised patient with no information. With today’s system, the Primary Care Physician and Dentist struggles to know the progress of each patient referred; whether they made it in and when and if they will be returning for subsequent treatment. Dr. Barrick’s journey led him North to Salt Lake City where his company was chosen as part of the Utah’s “BoomStartup class of 2012.” The three month intensive accelerator program brought his idea from concept to reality. To date, the company has taken in more than a hundred thousand dollars of investment capital and has 70 participating offices. "As I have implemented Referral.IM into my own practice, I have been blown away by it's simplicity and effectiveness," Barrick said, "The other day I walked up front to refer a patient to a pediatric dentist. When I walked back into the operatory, the patient's father had a huge smile on his face. He said, ‘Doc, I just received a text from Dr. Albrect's office welcoming me to his practice. I forwarded the message to my wife, she called and they are expecting us in an hour. You guys are on top of it.’ "Referral.IM has improved the referring experience for me, the specialists I refer to and most importantly, my patients." Referral.IM is raising money for a seed stage investment round and beginning pilot programs with multiple dental offices, the Foot and Ankle Institute of Southern Utah and Mountain Land Rehabilitation, with offices in 8 states. ABOUT REFERRAL.IM Referral.IM is a provider of cloud based referral software for the medical industry. Founded in 2012, the company has raised over $100,000 in capital and recently won a "Go To Market Grant" from USTAR (Utah Science Technology and Research initiative) and finished top 8 in concept to company 2013. For more information, please see www.referral.im