Podiatry Arena members do not see these ads

Hi all,

I am based in Adelaide, and I have a patient who has recently moved to Melbourne. He rang me the other day to ask if I knew of a podiatrist he could see there.

It got me thinking... how often do we refer to each other (pod to pod), and on what basis? I would think it is rather important to have good professional relationships with each other around the country so we can be confident in giving good referrals within the profession. How do we do this?

Incidently, I told him to contact the Australian Podiatry Association in Victoria to find a pod close to him. (safest option?)

Hi Dan

I've always used www.findapodiatrist.org to refer patients elsewhere... I see quite a few patients who are here on holidays, so I give them a print out of the suburb/town search so that they can follow up on their assessment/treatment when they get home... Otherwise there's only the Yellow Pages to go by I guess..

Regards

Donna

Hi Dantastic,

I'm practising in Melbourne; not routine foot care however. What requirements has the patient? Maybe I can make a referral for you to the best Pod for this patient.

dantastic

I find using findapodiatrist.org is good because it generally gives you information on the podiatist ie qualifications, interests, as well as geographical location.

regards

claire

:) We at the Mount Isa Hospital and Health Service District, Queensland, regularly refer patients to other podiatrists in the region including those in government departments, non-profit organisations and those in private practice. It all works well - an integrated service so to speak.

Pete the Pod
Head of Department (Podiatry)

We find this difficult going from Public to private, why choose one pod over another when there are multiple service providers in the area? It doesn't help that a good deal of us also practice in similar areas so to refer with a vested interest is risking your employment, as it should. If we refer to 1 in particular, does the practice that runs on the other side of the road have a right to jump up and down about why them?

However you also want to refer to someone that is skilled in a certain area if that there is a perceived level of complexity. I do a lot of secondary consults for colleagues and send back findings and proposed treatment plans. Not interested in sheep stealing but skilling up the colleagues when and where possible.

I do agree in appropriate referral but find it is often word of mouth or someone you know who knows someone etc. That Findapod is ok however it is based on the accreditation program that hasn't been actively promoted in VIC for years so there is a lot of us that are members but not on that so it can be a little problematic.

In all the rambling, unless you are looking for something in particular or are stuck, I think the first port of call is usually the A.Pod.A of the state by phone or the A.Pod.A section within the yellow pages.

__________________
Cheers,
Cylie.... in a permanent state of confusion

Its a good question.


In physiotherapy, as the clinician may be confronted with a headache one minute, wrist pain the next, and then an ankle, its probably more difficult to be the jack-of-all trades. Hence over the years, different physiotherapists have bobbed up with certain specialties. If I struggled to improve a patient within 2-4 sessions, the next step was an intra (another physio with a specialty) or inter (chiro etc.) profession referral...or indeed other investigation.

It is easier and more protective if this "more specialised clinician" operated out of your neighbourhood, as the commercial realities are that you may lose them and their referrals in the future.


In relation to podiatry, I guess we have several arms or sub-specialties within a relatively narrow terms-of-reference:
- musculo-skeletal
- dermatological
- surgical
-


I can't and don't do nail surgery, and will refer to another pod for that. There is also a GP and surgeon nearby that performs decent nail surgery. I have regularly referred to orthopods; and pod surgeons occasionally.

There are many factors that we should consider, including: specific patient problem; patient best interest; patient socio-economic & insurance status.... Unfortunately in private practice, this is slightly compromised by our own self-interest.




Ron
Physiotherapist (Masters) & Podiatrist

Personally I choose only to refer to people whom I have confidence in or who I have worked with before. "Blind" referral or recommendation is an extremely dangerous practice.

I have no issues referring to any other profession/specialty or even referring within my own profession/specialty if something is outside of my scope of practice and I believe it is what the patient requires. Our practice does this routinely between the Podiatrists there as well as the Podiatrists/other Professionals in Public/Private sectors around us.