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Interspecialty CommunicationOvercoming Philosophies and Disincentives
Marjorie A. Bowman, MD, MPA
Arch Fam Med. 1995;4(5):401.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
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INTERSPECIALTY COMMUNICATION can probably thwart unneeded visits, improve the selection of testing, provide a better estimate of the urgency of the visit from the perspective of the consultant, and improve communication on sensitive issues. The family physician may also learn more from an interaction such as a phone call than from a one-way referral letter at a later date, because of both the immediacy and the opportunity to ask questions. If this communication can do so much, why is there not more?
In the current system, family physicians are busy and tend to telephone only for urgent matters. Phone calls are disruptive to both family physician and consultant schedules. Although consultants are potentially rewarded financially for taking phone calls through future referrals, this reward is indirect and may not exist for specialists paid by capitation. Thus, consultants often do not encourage these phone calls and may act like they are
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
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