Keywords

chiropractic, continuity of care, intraprofessional referrals, interprofessional referrals, referral relations

 

Authors

  1. Greene, Barry R. PhD
  2. Smith, Monica PhD, DC
  3. Haas, Mitchell MA, DC
  4. Allareddy, Veerasathpurush

Abstract

The objective of our study is to document how often MD/DOs and doctors of chiropractic (DCs) receive patient information from referring MD/DOs and DCs and highlight to what extent there is a lack of formal intraprofessional and interprofessional referral relationships between MD/DOs and DCs. A total of 517 MD/DOs and 452 DCs participated in this study. The study results suggest that patient information is not regularly provided by either MD/DOs or DCs, even when making formal referrals to a provider of the same type. This was more pronounced when MDs made formal referrals to DCs.