Abstract
Purpose :
Retinal specialty practices receive a large proportion of new patients from outside referrals, and the sources of these referrals are highly relevant to the practice. We analyzed referral patterns to a large retinal specialty practice based on the source of provider type, medical doctor (MD) versus optometric doctor (OD), using a retrospective, correlational study.
Methods :
Using internal data from a large retinal specialty practice, Retina Associates of Cleveland, from the years 2012 to 2022, the number of referrals was calculated from MD or OD providers. A 10-year Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) was calculated for each category. Additionally, the ratio of MD to OD providers was calculated each year.
Results :
In 2012, the number of referrals from MD and OD providers was 647 (71.3%) and 260 (28.7%), respectively. In 2022, the number of referrals from MD and OD providers was 965 (40.2%) and 1435 (59.8%), respectively. The overall CAGR for referrals to the practice was 10.2%, with the CAGR of MD being 4.1% and OD being 18.6%. 2019 was the first year that a majority of referrals came from OD providers (50.8%) instead of MD providers (49.2%).
Conclusions :
It appears that the growth of OD referrals is significantly higher than MD referrals. These results demonstrate the increasing importance of OD providers in triaging retinal pathology. Future studies looking at national trends in MD versus OD referrals could be useful in understanding the cooperative relationship between retinal specialists and MD versus OD providers.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.