The association between general practitioner participation in joint teleconsultations and rates of referral: a discrete choice experiment

Conclusions: The results indicate that GP participation in teleconsultations is associated with overall reductions in referral rates and in variation across GPs, and that these effects are robust to the inclusion of other factors known to influence referrals. The reduction in range, coupled with different effects for different clinical presentations, may suggest an educational effect. However, more research is needed to establish whether there are causal relationships between participation in teleconsultations, continuing education, and referral rates.
Source: BMC Family Practice - Category: Primary Care Authors: Source Type: research