Survey of Equine Referring Veterinarians’ Satisfaction with Their Most Recent Equine Referral Experience.
Abstract: Little is known about the veterinary referral process and factors that contribute to positive outcomes. Objective: To investigate equine referring veterinarians' (rDVMs') satisfaction with their most recent referral experience and compare rDVM and specialist perspectives. Methods: 187 rDVMs and 92 specialists (referral care providers). Methods: Cross-sectional observational study. An online survey was administered to both rDVMs and specialists. Referring veterinarian satisfaction with their most recent referral experience was evaluated. Both rDVMs and specialists were asked to identify factors influencing a rDVM's decision where to refer, and the top 3 factors they perceive are barriers to referral care. Results: Median rDVM satisfaction with their most recent referral care experience was 80 of 100 (mean, 75; range, 8-100). Referring veterinarians provided the lowest satisfaction score for the item asking about "The competition the referral hospital poses to your practice" (mean, 56.96; median, 62; range, 0-100). The top factor rDVMs identified as influencing their decision where to refer was "quality of care," whereas specialists identified "quality of communication and updates from the clinician." Referring veterinarians' top barrier to referral care was "high cost of referral care," and for specialists was "poor service provided to the client by the referral hospital." Conclusions: Referring veterinarians generally were satisfied with referral care, but areas exist where rDVMs and specialists differ in what they view as important to the referral process. Exploring opportunities to overcome these differences is likely to support high quality care.
Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
Publication Date: 2018-02-22 PubMed ID: 29469978PubMed Central: PMC5867021DOI: 10.1111/jvim.15053Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Observational Study
Summary
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This study explores the satisfaction of referring veterinarians with their recent referral experiences, and compares their while addressing potential factors and barriers impacting their decision-making process and satisfaction.
Objectives and Methods
- The key objective of this research article was to understand the satisfaction of equine referring veterinarians (rDVMs) with their most recent referral experiences. This was done in a bid to get insights into the veterinary referral process and observe the factors that lead to successful outcomes.
- The study applied cross-sectional observational methods, with an online survey being administered to 187 rDVMs and 92 specialists who serve as referral care providers.
- Elements under evaluation included satisfaction with the most recent referral experience, the factors influencing their decision on where to refer, and the top three perceived barriers to referral care.
Results
- The median satisfaction of rDVMs with their most recent referral experience was noted to be 80 out of 100, indicating generally satisfactory outcomes.
- However, the lowest satisfaction score given by rDVMs was for the item inquiring about “The competition the referral hospital poses to your practice”.
- When evaluating factors influencing their decision on where to refer, rDVMs noted the “quality of care” as the most critical factor while specialists identified “quality of communication and updates from the clinician.”
- For the rDVMs, the top barrier to referral care was identified as the “high cost of referral care,” whereas for specialists it was “poor service provided to the client by the referral hospital.”
Conclusions
- While referring veterinarians were generally satisfied with referral care, the study revealed areas of disagreement between rDVMs and specialists on aspects important to the referral process.
- The researchers concluded that understanding and working towards overcoming these differences could aid in providing high-quality care in veterinary referral processes.
Cite This Article
APA
Best C, Coe JB, Hewson J, Meehan M, Kelton D.
(2018).
Survey of Equine Referring Veterinarians’ Satisfaction with Their Most Recent Equine Referral Experience.
J Vet Intern Med, 32(2), 822-831.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15053 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Departments of Population Medicine (Best, Coe, Meehan, Kelton), and Clinical Studies (Hewson), Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
- Departments of Population Medicine (Best, Coe, Meehan, Kelton), and Clinical Studies (Hewson), Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
- Departments of Population Medicine (Best, Coe, Meehan, Kelton), and Clinical Studies (Hewson), Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
- Departments of Population Medicine (Best, Coe, Meehan, Kelton), and Clinical Studies (Hewson), Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
- Departments of Population Medicine (Best, Coe, Meehan, Kelton), and Clinical Studies (Hewson), Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
MeSH Terms
- Adult
- Aged
- Animals
- Communication
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Female
- Horses
- Humans
- Interprofessional Relations
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Quality of Health Care
- Referral and Consultation
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Veterinarians
- Veterinary Medicine / standards
Conflict of Interest Statement
The following describe activities that have resulted in a conflict of interest: Jason Coe received honoraria from Royal Canin Canada, Royal Canin US, Hill's Canada, Merial Canada, Merial US, Merck Canada, PetLynx Corporation, Vetfolio, received stock options from PetLynx Corporation and also received grants from Royal Canin Canada, Purina Pet‐Care Canada, Zoetis US. Colleen Best received funds to cover travel and accommodations for presentation at meeting from AVMA Professional Liability Insurance Trust; AVMA PLIT provided an educational grant to Dr Best for part of her PhD research. She has also received grants from Zoetis US and Canada. All analyses were conducted solely by the research team and no input was provided by any outside agency. Further, the study was designed exclusively by the research team with no input from any outside agency.
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Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Elte Y, Wolframm I, Vernooij H, Nielen M, van Weeren R. Equine veterinarians' care priorities regarding vaccination, colic, lameness and pre-purchase scenarios. Equine Vet J 2026 Jan;58(1):203-211.
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