Why patients get unnecessary referrals to consultants
Recently, a physician colleague asked me a question about a patient. The patient, who had already been seen by another allergist, was referred to another physician (“the consultant”) for evaluation. The consultant was in the same healthcare system as my colleague, but the allergist was not. In evaluating the patient, a specific allergy question came up.
The consultant asks my colleague about this question. What was interesting was that the consultant …