Characterizing barriers to closing cross-institutional referral loops: Workflow and information flow analysis.

Appl Ergon

Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Health Information and Communication, Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service CIN 13-416, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.

Published: February 2024

The specialty referral process consists of primary care clinicians referring patients to specialty consultants. This care transition requires effective care coordination and health information exchange between care teams; however, breakdowns in workflow and information flow impede "closing the referral loop" and delay or prevent referrers from receiving the consultant's "visit notes," particularly in cross-institutional referrals. This study aimed to describe and map the referral process as it occurs in clinics and identify and characterize work system barriers affecting its performance. Referrers and consultants were interviewed about their perceived workflows, barriers, and clinical outcomes to inform a workflow analysis.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10863302PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104177DOI Listing

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