ArticleIrish journal of medical science2011
Who goes where? A prospective study of referral patterns within a newly established primary care team.
Article in Irish journal of medical science, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Decision Support Systems for Healthcare Referral Strategies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines and Primary Care Referral Pathways for the Management of Otorhinolaryngological Conditions in Pakistan.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2026Article
- Development of clinical practice guidelines and primary care referral pathways for management of otorhinolaryngological conditions in Pakistan.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Primary care physician referral patterns in Ontario, Canada: a descriptive analysis of self-reported referral data.BMC family practice · 2017Article
- An evidence-based assessment of primary care needs in an economically deprived urban community.Irish journal of medical science · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince the introduction of primary care teams, referral patterns of General Practitioners (GPs) in Ireland have not been studied.
aimsTo study the referral patterns of GPs within a primary care team (PCT) to allied health care professionals in a PCT and to secondary care. To identify indirect referral pathways. To study variation in individual GP referral patterns.
methodQuestionnaire based survey. Statistical analysis was carried out using Epi Info version 3.5.1.
resultsOf 3,166 consultations, 2,841 (89.7%) were dealt with by the GP and required no referral, 107 (3.4%) were referred within the PCT, and 218 (6.9%) were referred elsewhere. Therefore, 93.1% of consultations were managed in primary care alone. Ninety percent of GPs refer patients to the PCT. Indirect referrals constituted 17% of all outpatient referrals. Females have significantly higher referral rates than males. Referral rates of GPs in single-handed practices are higher than GPs in group practices.
conclusionsGPs alone can manage the vast majority of presentations in general practice. Greater GP access to diagnostic and therapeutic interventions may reduce outpatient referrals. GPs in group practices may collectively have greater experience and expertise and therefore can manage more patients in primary care. There is a significant variation in referral rates between both genders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.