Are you a family doctor who has been asked to "arrange a referral on behalf of a specialist to another specialist?"....How do you approach this? A Thread

Earlier in my career I would have obliged and simply sent the referral but now I've come to realize that asking for a collaborative approach to care is not unreasonable....so whats the new strategy then?

Well, its a quick note back to the specialist asking them to kindly send a letter onto the specialist they feel needs to assess the patient and an offer to send a formal referral note from primary care...

what does this achieve? Well - 1) The patient is advocated for by both primary care and the treating specialist, 2) Primary care doesn't bear all the weight of this process, 3) It creates a more collegial relationship for future care between primary care/ specialists and..

most importantly, keeps the focus on the patient while balancing the responsibility for the care of the patient on the whole team. #ONPrimarycareleads