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Mitchell H. Katz, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(2):100. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.1290

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In this issue of the Archives, Barnett et al¹ demonstrate that between 1999 and 2009, the probability of an ambulatory visit resulting in a referral to another physician almost doubled. Given concerns about the tremendous and seemingly unsustainable cost of American health care, as well as the increased risk of fragmented care with multiple physicians involved in the care of a given patient, these findings are troubling. But the real problem is that we have no idea what the data really mean.

Are more patients being referred to another physician because medical care is more complicated than it was a decade ago (eg, more medicines, more procedures available), and none of us can know or do everything? Are more patients referred because as practicing doctors we are asked to do more in less time and so we refer out issues that are not in our . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Author Affiliation: Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, California.

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Trends in Physician Referrals in the United States, 1999-2009
Michael L. Barnett, Zirui Song, and Bruce E. Landon
Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(2):163-170.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT