Altering physician referral practices is challenging, but not impossible: spine assessment clinic quality improvement study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Access to medical specialists is a persistent challenge, with neurosurgical spine services reporting some of the longest waits across all fields. Inappropriate and incomplete referrals contribute to delayed access to these providers. Referral guidelines and physician education have been shown to decrease such inefficiencies. Therefore, the goal of this study was to address inappropriate referrals directed to the neurosurgical spine assessment clinic via implementation of a quality improvement initiative. We hypothesised that appropriate referrals, which included patients with potential surgical pathology and fulfilled referral criteria, would increase by 25% following referral guideline distribution.

Methods

A three-phase study was implemented: (1) baseline data

SUBMITTER: Varga A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12496095 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature