Israel journal of medical sciences
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Direct self-referrals to a consultant, especially on an urgent basis, has not been widely explored before. The health insurance system in Israel permits elective direct self-referrals to various specialists, but the range and reasons of urgent self-referrals has not yet been evaluated. Our aim was to evaluate urgent self-referrals to ambulatory consultants and to see to what extent a qualified family physician can triage and treat those patients. ⋯ Of the immediate consultations, 73% were ophthalmological and 27% came from a range of other complaints (p < 0.001). Our conclusion was that a family physician can treat most of the urgent self-referrals to ambulatory consultations in the three domains that were evaluated. A triage system is particularly suitable for urgent self-referrals to ENT as well as dermatological problems.