Referral

About: Referral is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 27614 publications have been published within this topic receiving 479918 citations.

Explorations of National Culture and Word-of-Mouth Referral Behavior in the Purchase of Industrial Services in the United States and Japan

Abstract: In this study, the authors examine how national culture affects referral behavior for industrial services such as advertising, banking, and accounting. The authors collected data using interviews with managers of small- and medium-sized companies in the United States and Japan. The results show that national culture has a strong effect on the number of referral sources consulted and that Japanese companies use more than comparable American companies do. Don't laugh, but all the really important [business] services I have, I found in the Yellow Pages (American manager of a small manufacturing company in the United States). When starting a new business, your bank means everything. Just about all my service vendors came from talking with my bank (Japanese owner of a cosmetics manufacturer in Tokyo).

Teacher Efficacy and Student Problem as Factors in Special Education Referral

Abstract: We investigated the influence of teacher efficacy and student problem type on teachers' placement and referral decisions. Regular and special educators (N= 192) were randomly assigned a case study describing a student having a learning and/or behavior problem and asked to judge (a) whether the student was appropriately placed in regular education and (b) whether they would refer this student to special education. Analysis of an efficacy scale yielded two factors: personal efficacy and teaching efficacy. Results indicated that regular and special educators were most likely to agree with regular class placement when they were high in both dimensions of efficacy. Regular educators higher in personal efficacy were more likely to agree with regular education placement than those with lower personal efficacy. In addition, students with combined learning and behavior problems were found to be the most susceptible to referral. This study suggests that teachers' sense of efficacy underlies their placement decisions.

Primary care and public emergency department overcrowding.

Abstract: OBJECTIVES. Our objective was to evaluate whether referral to primary care settings would be clinically appropriate for and acceptable to patients waiting for emergency department care for nonemergency conditions. METHODS. We studied 700 patients waiting for emergency department care at a public hospital. Access to alternative sources of medical care, clinical appropriateness of emergency department use, and patients' willingness to use nonemergency services were measured and compared between patients with and without a regular source of care. RESULTS. Nearly half (45%) of the patients cited access barriers to primary care as their reason for using the emergency department. Only 13% of the patients waiting for care had conditions that were clinically appropriate for emergency department services. Patients with a regular source of care used the emergency department more appropriately than did patients without a regular source of care. Thirty-eight percent of the patients expressed a willingness to trade th...

Emergency medical care in developing countries: is it worthwhile?

Abstract: Prevention is a core value of any health system. Nonetheless, many health problems will continue to occur despite preventive services. A significant burden of diseases in developing countries is caused by time-sensitive illnesses and injuries, such as severe infections, hypoxia caused by respiratory infections, dehydration caused by diarrhoea, intentional and unintentional injuries, postpartum bleeding, and acute myocardial infarction. The provision of timely treatment during life-threatening emergencies is not a priority for many health systems in developing countries. This paper reviews evidence indicating the need to develop and/or strengthen emergency medical care systems in these countries. An argument is made for the role of emergency medical care in improving the health of populations and meeting expectations for access to emergency care. We consider emergency medical care in the community, during transportation, and at first-contact and regional referral facilities. Obstacles to developing effective emergency medical care include a lack of structural models, inappropriate training foci, concerns about cost, and sustainability in the face of a high demand for services. A basic but effective level of emergency medical care responds to perceived and actual community needs and improves the health of populations.

Getting the most out of cardiac rehabilitation: a review of referral and adherence predictors

Abstract: Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation reduces mortality and morbidity but is utilised by only a fraction of eligible cardiac patients, with the participation rate of women being only about half that of men. This quantitative review assesses 32 studies meeting inclusion criteria, describing 16 804 patients, 5882 of whom were female. It was found that the main predictor of referral to a cardiac rehabilitation programme was the physician’s endorsement of the effectiveness of such a programme. Patients were more likely to participate in rehabilitation programmes when they were actively referred, educated, married, possessed high self efficacy, and when the programmes were easily accessible. Patients were less likely to participate when they had to travel long distances to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation programme, or experienced guilt over family obligations. Women were less often referred and participated less often even after referral. In conclusion, many of the observed predictors, including those particular to women, are potentially modifiable with the help of health professionals.