The latest regulations on referrals in 2023 are as follows:
Referrals within the county need to go to the local township health centers for referrals, and the township health centers will help to contact the higher level hospitals and issue referral certificates, and then the patients will go to the higher level hospitals for treatment. Provincial referrals, provincial referrals generally need to go through the provincial referral procedures, issued by the municipal hospital referral certificate, and then bring the patient's relevant medical records, examination reports, treatment programs and other materials to the higher hospital for treatment.
Cross-provincial referral, if the patient needs cross-provincial treatment, generally need to apply for cross-provincial referral procedures. At this point, the patient needs to directly find the cross-provincial designated hospital, the hospital can receive the patient, and then issued the relevant referral certificate, and finally the patient then to the hospital for treatment. Referrals generally require a referral order or a referral letter as a medical document to ensure the transfer of information between medical institutions and the completeness and accuracy of the patient's medical records.
Referrals are made not only to address the patient's illness, but also to improve the quality of care and the rational allocation of healthcare resources. Primary care providers can usually handle and solve most common diseases and health problems, while specialist care providers have higher level of technology and equipment to provide more complex and specialized medical services. By referring patients to appropriate specialists or specialist institutions, the burden on primary institutions can be reduced, the overall quality of care can be improved and healthcare resources can be utilized more effectively.
Profits and drawbacks of referral and measures for improvement
Referral, as a common behavior between healthcare institutions, brings many benefits but also has some challenges and problems. On the one hand, referrals may lead to inconvenience and increased costs faced by patients during the process of accessing healthcare. Patients may need to travel to different healthcare facilities for diagnosis and treatment, increasing the financial burden and inconvenience in their daily lives. In addition, patients may have to wait for a longer period of time for referrals, and their conditions may deteriorate during the waiting period.
On the other hand, referrals may lead to wastage and irrational allocation of medical resources. In some regions and medical institutions, the need for referrals may be too much or too little, resulting in wasted or insufficient resources. When some common conditions are over-referred to specialists, this may lead to an over-consumption of specialist medical resources, affecting the medical needs of other patients. On the contrary, when some patients in need of specialist care are delayed or fail to be referred in a timely manner, their conditions may deteriorate and they may miss the best opportunity for treatment.
In order to solve the problems in referral, some improvement measures can be taken. It is important to establish a sound referral system and process. Healthcare organizations can establish standardized referral criteria and guidelines to clarify indications and contraindications for referrals to ensure that referral decisions and practices are medically based and consistent with clinical practice. In addition, healthcare institutions can optimize the referral process and improve the efficiency and quality of referrals by establishing referral assessment and management mechanisms.