Keywords

Electronic referral, pilot project, primary care, quality improvement, rural, specialist

 

Authors

  1. Olson, Ernestine DNP, APRN, FNP-BC (Nurse Practitioner)

ABSTRACT

Background: Delayed referrals to specialists often result in increased morbidity and mortality.

 

Local problem: A time delay in specialist care access of over 1 month identified a gap in efficient care provision in a rural south central United States outreach clinic within a multispecialty group affiliated with a hospital system.

 

Methods: A pilot project with a mixed-methods design that compared the established referral process with direct primary provider referral to a specialist's electronic medical record (EMR) schedule. Authors conducted the study over 16 weeks using a convenience sample size of 74 patients.

 

Interventions: Direct primary care nurse practitioner provider to specialist EMR schedule referral based on specialty referral needs.

 

Results: All electronically referred patients were seen by specialists in less than 1 month.

 

Conclusions: All electronic specialist referrals were completed more expediently than those referred by the standard process and patients reported an efficient and satisfactory process.