I have been doing some ultrasound referral work for clinics in my region. Because I do not have a portable machine (yet!), clients need to come to my hospital for the scan. If I have time I will speak with owners after the scan but in most cases I am too busy and need to get on with my day at the hospital. The clients are told that the report will be sent to their regular vet for follow-up. I almost always have the report sent to the referring hospital the same day.
I have been doing some ultrasound referral work for clinics in my region. Because I do not have a portable machine (yet!), clients need to come to my hospital for the scan. If I have time I will speak with owners after the scan but in most cases I am too busy and need to get on with my day at the hospital. The clients are told that the report will be sent to their regular vet for follow-up. I almost always have the report sent to the referring hospital the same day.
What has been happening is that the referring veterinarian is not getting back to the client in a timely matter. To me this is no different than reporting a blood result or histopath result when it comes in. I had a case recently where a dog was coughing and I did an echoe to rule out CHF. This was on a Friday and the client had not heard anything back and contacted me for the results on the following Monday. I of course, went over everything on the scan, then recommended that they follow-up with their regular DVM for next steps. After a few attempts to call their regular vet, they called us back and requested that they transfer their pet to our hospital for care as they found this follow-up unacceptable (and the dog’s cough had gotten worse). I encouraged them to stay with their regular vet as it is not my goal to “steal” clients away – they refused and called the hospital to transfer their records to us. I did call the referring hospital to let them know what was happening so hopefully no hard feelings but I do think they dropped the ball a bit on this one.
For those of you doing referral ultrasound, do you try to talk to the clients regarding the results of the scan or leave it up to the referring veterinarian?
For follow-up ultrasound recommendations, how do you get the clients back? If the referring veterinarian is not pointing out that follow-up is recommended, is it OK to contact the client to let them know that a ultrasound recheck was recommended? ex. monitoring splenic masses for change, monitoring heart disease etc.
Comments
I do a fair amount of
I do a fair amount of ultrasound referrals – the client brings the dog/cat in and once it has been scanned I briefly discuss my findings with the client and then send them back to their vet with a report detailing the US findings and further diagnostic/treatment recommendations, including if a follow US is indicated.
Some referring vets will send a case for US and further assessment as needed. With time you will learn which vets only want a US done and those that want to get rid of the case.
I do a fair amount of
I do a fair amount of ultrasound referrals – the client brings the dog/cat in and once it has been scanned I briefly discuss my findings with the client and then send them back to their vet with a report detailing the US findings and further diagnostic/treatment recommendations, including if a follow US is indicated.
Some referring vets will send a case for US and further assessment as needed. With time you will learn which vets only want a US done and those that want to get rid of the case.
I have helped some referral
I have helped some referral hospitals with this:
Create a profile with 5 questions on how they want you to handle a certain scenario
1) US/your patient comes in and call you with results and not communicate with client? communicate to client and call you? not call you at all?
2) Followups: do I have permission to contact the pet owner for a followup if necessary?
and so forth
do a questionnaire and have the referring vets answer it, keep it on file and refer to it. If there is any question you have it on file to refer to. This usually thwarts most scenarios and shows that you are taking their needs into consideration …olive branch
I have helped some referral
I have helped some referral hospitals with this:
Create a profile with 5 questions on how they want you to handle a certain scenario
1) US/your patient comes in and call you with results and not communicate with client? communicate to client and call you? not call you at all?
2) Followups: do I have permission to contact the pet owner for a followup if necessary?
and so forth
do a questionnaire and have the referring vets answer it, keep it on file and refer to it. If there is any question you have it on file to refer to. This usually thwarts most scenarios and shows that you are taking their needs into consideration …olive branch
Good advice – thanks
I may
Good advice – thanks
I may even put those options on the referral form I created for the referring DVM’s so that we are clear.
Good advice – thanks
I may
Good advice – thanks
I may even put those options on the referral form I created for the referring DVM’s so that we are clear.
My pleasure:)
My pleasure:)
My pleasure:)
My pleasure:)