Closing the Referral Loop: an Analysis of Primary Care Referrals to Specialists in a Large Health System

Purpose Ideally, a referralfrom a primary care physician(PCP) to a specialist results in a completed specialty appointment with results available to the PCP. This is defined as “closing the referralloop.” As health systems grow more complex, regulatory bodies increase vigilance, and reimbursementshifts towards value, closing the referralloop becomes a patient safety, regulatory, and financial imperative.