Priority Setting and Waiting Time Decision in the Referral Process, How and by Whom?

Communication Clinical Trial

— Priority  

Official title:

Priority Setting and Waiting Time Decision in the Referral Process, How and by Whom? A Prospective Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effects of an Education Program in Priority Setting and Waiting Time Decision in Referrals

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Withdrawn

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01976221
• Other study ID #: REK2013/1762
• Status: Withdrawn
• Start date: January 2016
• Est. completion date: October 10, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: September 2021
• Source: University of Bergen
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The referral letter is used for different purposes: a request for a special diagnostic assessment or medical treatment that the GP cannot perform for the patient, an invitation to have a second opinion about a clinical problem or a wish for mutual responsibility for the medical handling. The individual referral rate between GPs varies greatly, and is an important determinant of secondary care utilization. We wanted to study the various elements and factors having an impact on the referral process, from the moment the GP decides to refer the patient until the hospital consultant assess the referral and prioritise the patient for further investigation or treatment. How and why are we, the GPs who refer, so different? We wanted to

1. identify and describe general practitioners' reflections on and attitudes to the referral process and cooperation with hospital specialists

2. identify and describe hospital consultants' reflections on and attitudes to the referral process and cooperation with general practitioners

3. identify typologies characterising GPs in the referral practice

Description:

Design and Methods:

We did two qualitative and one quantitative study. The first was a focus group study with GPs in CPD groups, the second an individual study with hospital consultants, both analyses by using systematic text condensation. The third was a quantitative registration of impressions, facts and feelings in the referral process using a principal component analysis to find typologies for GPs who refer to hospital.

Participants:

GPs referring to Stavanger University Hospital. Hospital consultants at Stavanger University Hospital.

Intervention: No intervention was performed.

Time schedule:

Data Collection finished May 2014.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Withdrawn
• Enrollment: 0
• Est. completion date: October 10, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: January 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 25 Years to 70 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

All the 300 GPs referring to Stavanger University Hospital who participate in one of the 58 CPD groups in South Rogaland County and who agree to participate in the study are included.

Exclusion Criteria:

GPs not willing to participate

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Communication

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Norway	Stavanger University Hospital	Stavanger

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Bergen

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Norway, 

References & Publications (1)

Thorsen O, Hartveit M, Baerheim A. General practitioners' reflections on referring: an asymmetric or non-dialogical process? Scand J Prim Health Care. 2012 Dec;30(4):241-6. doi: 10.3109/02813432.2012.711190. Epub 2012 Oct 10. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Inter-rater agreement between GPs and hospital consultants on priority setting and waiting time for patients	We will study the inter-rater correlation between GPs and hospital consultants about priority setting and waiting time for patients referred to hospital	One year
Primary	Use of priority setting and waiting time indication in referrals	The use of priority setting and waiting time in referrals will be recorded before and after an intervention with group training for general practitioners	1 year
Secondary	Referral rates	The referral rates may be reduced by higher awareness of non-prioritized medical conditions. The use of priority setting and waiting time according to the national prioritization guidelines can give a higher correlation between GPs and hospital consultants about priority setting and waiting time.	One year

External Links

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