Web-Based Versus Non-Web–Based Patient Referral Patterns and Factors Affecting Them

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the 8-year (2012–2019) change in the patient referral source trends to a plastic surgery practice and the factors affecting them. Methods: Data on demographics, referral source, and patient’s concern were recorded. The web-based referral sources were website and Instagram and non-web–based included other patients (word-of-mouth), medical professionals (physician, nurse, and optometrist), and others (printed media, TV, and radio). Patients’ concerns were divided into cosmetic and noncosmetic. The first (2012–2015) and second (2016–2019) half of the study period were also compared. Results: Included patients were 19,965. The 8-year referral sources, in order of frequency, were medical professionals (34%), other patients (32.7%), web-based sources (32.5%), and the others (0.7%). The web-based sources significantly increased by 2.4 times in the second half. While they had a third rank after the medical professionals and other patients in the first half of the study period, they became the first in the second half. The non-web–based source showed a decline during the study period. Type of referral sources was not significantly different between the 2 genders. A significantly higher percentage of the patients between 21 and 50 years of age were referred through web-based sources than the other age groups. Patients with cosmetic concerns were 2 times more likely to be referred through web-based sources. Conclusion: The web-based referral sources have significantly grown from the third rank in the beginning to the first one from 2015 till the end of study.

Impact of COVID-19 on the patient referral pattern and conversion rate in the university versus private facial plastic surgery centers

“…Our private center referral pattern showed an insignificant rise in the number of referrals through the web-based rather than non-web-based sources during the pandemic (Table 1 ). We have previously shown that the web-based referral sources were on the rise before the pandemic [ 2 ], even though this trend did not result in a significant increase in the conversion rate [ 1 ].…”

“…Two important steps towards the success of any business including plastic surgery practice are increasing the number of potential customers (referred patients) through different referral sources (patients, medical professionals, TV, radio, printed media, and web-based media) and convincing the potential customers (referrals) to funding the procedure privately (undergoing plastic procedures) [ 1 , 2 ]. Conversion rate is a ratio of the number of private patients (patients undergoing procedures) to the number of potential customers (referrals) [ 1 ].…”

“…Conversion rate is a ratio of the number of private patients (patients undergoing procedures) to the number of potential customers (referrals) [ 1 ]. Most of the patients with non-cosmetic demands are referred to the university-based facial plastic surgery center due to the insurance coverage and consequently a lower cost [ 1 , 2 ]. However, since insurance companies do not cover the cosmetic costs, most of the cosmetic patients are referred to the private center [ 1 , 2 ].…”

Web-Based Patient Referral System Design from Clinic to Hospital Using Object Oriented Programming System

“…The importance of this research can be seen from several studies such as those conducted by Abdolalizadeh, P., Kashkouli, M. B., Gandomi-Mohammadabadi, A., Karimi, N., Chaibakhsh, S., and Jafarpour, S. compared web-based and nonweb-based patient referral patterns and identified the factors affecting them. The methods involved collecting demographic data, and the results showed a significant increase in the use of web-based referral sources [4]. Another study by Aman, M., Sasono, I., Nugroho, Y.…”

“…However, the use of patient referral information systems at clinics is still conventional in the process of providing referral letters to patients, collecting drug data, drug prescriptions, patient data, and patient diagnosis data [3]. To resolve this issue, the use of software can provide enormous benefits to the clinic [3,4].…”