The impact of variation in out-of-hours doctors' referral practices: a Norwegian registry-based observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In a gatekeeping system, the individual doctor's referral practice is an important factor for hospital activity and patient safety.

Objective

The aim of the study was to investigate the variation in out-of-hours (OOH) doctors' referral practice, and to explore these variations' impact on admissions for selected diagnoses reflecting severity, and 30-day mortality.

Methods

National data from the doctors' claims database were linked with hospital data in the Norwegian Patient Registry. Based on the doctor's individual referral rate adjusted for local organizational factors, the doctors were sorted into quartiles of low-, medium-low-, medium-high-, and high-referral practice. The relative risk (RR) for all referrals and for selected discharge diagnoses was calc

SUBMITTER: Blinkenberg J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10745277 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature