Quality improvement of referrals to a department of restorative dentistry following the use of a referral proforma by referring dental practitioners

Djemal, Serpil; Chia, Matthew C.; Ubaya-Narayange, T

doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4811477

Cited by 27 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…This suggestion is supported by the study by Jacobs and Pringle, 6 which found deficient content scores in referrals from GPs to orthopaedic departments such that it was not possible to determine the urgency of a referral accurately. The use of a standard referral proforma has been shown to improve the quality of referrals by dental practitioners to a department of restorative dentistry; 7 however, to our knowledge, this has not been shown for musculoskeletal disease.…”

Section: Rate Of Independent Managementmentioning

confidence: 89%

The Extended Scope Physiotherapist in Orthopaedic Out-Patients – An Audit

Pearse

Maclean

Ricketts

2006

annals

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Ann R Coll Surg EnglThe aim of this study was to audit the activity of ESPs in our hospital. Benchmark standards were set as follows: (i) ESPs should independently assess 85% of patients appropriately referred to them; 2 (ii) the patient satisfaction rate should be 89%; 1 and (iii) no patient should be re-referred to an orthopaedic surgeon with the same complaint. Patients and Methods Extended scope physiotherapistsESPs had at least 5 years' clinical experience post qualification and at least 3 years' experience in the management of orthopaedic and musculoskeletal conditions as recommended by the guidelines produced by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. 4 ESPs had been seeing new orthopaedic referrals in clinic for at least 18 months before the period of the audit. TriageBased on the recommendations of Durrell, We undertook an audit of the activity of the extended scope physiotherapists (ESPs) in our unit. We assessed their activity against three benchmark data: (i) independent assessment and management by the ESP of 85% of patients seen by them; (ii) no patient to be re-referred to a surgeon with the same problem; and (iii) patient satisfaction rate of 89%.

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Section: Rate Of Independent Managementmentioning

confidence: 89%

The Extended Scope Physiotherapist in Orthopaedic Out-Patients – An Audit

Pearse

Maclean

Ricketts

2006

annals

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“…16 Although overall there was no significant improvement in the referral letter score with the proforma, there was no significant difference in the quality of referrals from GMPs and GDPs when it is used, but this could have been due to small sample size. Djemal et al 13 and Shaffie and Cheng 17 both found referrals from GDPs improved when using a proforma. But on the other hand Denith et al 8 although finding medical histories improved with use of proformas, found less general information was provided something noted in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 , 13 In order to obtain an equal number of simple and complex cases for analysis, letters were taken in an approximately equal proportion across all three databases (patients seen by the consultant, specialist registrar and foundation dentist). In total 94 referral letters were obtained, 50 of which were GDP letters and 44 GMP referrals.…”

Section: Power Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Referrals to a facial pain service

2016

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Aim :To determine who refers patients to a facial pain service, to assess the quality of the referral letters. MethodThe source of all referral letters to the service for 5 years were established. For one year the information provided in 94 referrals was assessed. Using a predetermined checklist of essential information the referral letters were compared to these set criteria. Results:The service received > 1000 referrals annually and on average GDPs referred 303 more patients per year than GMPs. 71% of all referrals were from primary care practitioners, the rest from specialists. Over 70% of GMP and 52% of GDP letters included a past medical history, with GMPs more likely to suggest a possible diagnosis and include previous secondary care referrals. The mean score for GMP referrals compared to the standard proforma (max 12) was 5.6 and for GDP referrals 5.0. A relevant drug history was included by 75.6% GMP compared to 38.7% of GDPs. GMPs were more likely to include any relevant mental health history. Conclusions:The overall quality of referral letters is low. If referrals were only accepted from GMPs, potentially improved management of patients would ensue.

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“…There have been few studies of referrals from dental practices [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Thomas et al .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[7] showed that only 39·8% of referrals included a full medical history. Research in other dental specialities [3,5,6,8] reported significant omissions of information. These studies stressed the importance of high-quality referrals and concluded that the use of a referral form could improve the quality of referral communications.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%