Use of Structured Templates to Improve Completeness of Endocrinology Referrals
Authors' conclusion
Structured referral templates, designed with the input of primary care providers and endocrinologists and embedded into an electronic referral system, can improve the availability of essential information and increase the quality of referrals. Future work should examine the effect of structured referral templates on efficiency, specialist experience, patient experience of care, and clinical outcomes.
Study context
- Population
- New endocrinology referrals for common endocrine conditions at a large Veterans Health Administration medical center
- Participants
- 125 vs 125
- Exposure
- Referrals after vs before introduction of structured referral templates
- Postinterventionn = 125
- Preinterventionn = 125reference
- Outcome
- Referral completeness (share of essential elements included); target ≥30% improvement for each condition
Methodological detailspre-post comparison, single-centre, pre-post intervention
- Pre-post comparison
- Single-centre
- Pre-post intervention
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Essential elements included in referrals (average)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Average
| Outcome | Postintervention | Preintervention |
|---|---|---|
| Essential elements included, excluding "type of visit preference" (the element with greatest improvement) | 92% | 64% |
Original publication
Use of Structured Templates to Improve Completeness of Endocrinology Referrals. Endocr Pract. Published 30 May 2023. doi:10.
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