Table 1.

Characteristics of referrals in ambulatory care (N=7,819)

		Percentage of referrals scheduled within 180 days	Kept visits
Characteristic	Referrals N (%)		Percentage of scheduled appointments	Percentage of referrals*
Gender
Female	5567 (71)	71	71	51
Male	2249 (29)	70	68	48
Race				**
White	3339 (44)	72	71	51
African-American	4156 (55)	71	70	50
Other	100 (1.3)	68	74	50
Age (years)
65–69	3238 (41)	71	70	49
70–74	2209 (28)	72	72	52
75–79	1356 (17)	70	69	49
80–84	611 (7.8)	70	72	51
≥ 85	405 (5.2)	71	66	47
Invasive procedures		**	**	**
Frequent	1814 (23)	72	76	55
Occasional	4033 (52)	74	66	49
Infrequent	1972 (25)	64	76	48
Medicaid				**
No	4976 (64)	71	71	51
Yes	2843 (36)	71	69	49
Medicare			**	**
No	719 (9.2)	69	63	43
Yes	7100 (91)	71	71	51
Any hospitalization		**	**	**
No	7193 (92)	73	71	52
Yes	626 (8.0)	53	55	29
Patient’s location at time of order		**	**	**
Primary Care	6303 (81)	72	69	50
Emergency	515 (6.6)	68	82	55
Geriatrics	557 (7.1)	66	69	46
Gynecology	19 (0.2)	79	93	74
Women’s Health	56 (0.7)	66	78	52
Other subspecialty	236 (3.0)	61	75	45
Other	133 (1.7)	64	84	53
Multiple orders for consultation		**		**
No	7387 (95)	71	70	50
Yes	432 (5.5)	65	72	47

^*Percentage of referrals kept = percentage of referrals scheduled × percentage of scheduled appointments kept

^**p ≤ 0.05 for column-variable (i.e., among values represented by this row)