TY - JOUR AU - Feng, Da AU - Zhang, Donglan AU - Li, Boyang AU - Zhang, Yan AU - Serrano, Ray AU - Shi, Danxiang AU - Liu, Yuan AU - Zhang, Liang PY - 2017 DA - 2017/11/28 TI - Does having a usual primary care provider reduce patient self-referrals in rural China’s rural multi-tiered medical system? A retrospective study in Qianjiang District, China JO - BMC Health Services Research SP - 778 VL - 17 IS - 1 AB - Within China’s multi-tiered medical system, many patients seek care in higher-tiered hospitals without a referral by a primary-care provider. This trend, generally referred to as patient self-referral behavior, may reduce the efficiency of the health care system. This study seeks to test the hypothesis that having a usual primary care provider could reduce patients’ self-referral behavior. SN - 1472-6963 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2673-6 DO - 10.1186/s12913-017-2673-6 ID - Feng2017 ER -