Medical consultations play a crucial role in the collaboration between health centers, particularly in primary care settings, when managing complex pathologies beyond their scope. Analyzing the characteristics of consultations and their prioritization is essential for enhancing referrals to higher complexity centers. This study aims to profile the consultations referred from the primary health care of the South East Metropolitan Health Service to the Otorhinolaryngology Service of the Sótero del Río Hospital, while also evaluating the concordance in their prioritization.
Aim: The main objectives of this study are to characterize the profile of consultations referred from primary health care to the Otorhinolaryngology Service and to assess the agreement in their prioritization.
Methods: Data from consultations sent to the Otorhinolaryngology Service from primary care were collected and analyzed. The prioritization of these consultations was evaluated using the Kappa Index, which measures the level of agreement between the two parties involved.
Results: The analysis revealed a Kappa Index of 0.086, indicating a poor level of concordance in the prioritization. This finding highlights potential issues in the referral process from primary care to the higher complexity center.
Conclusion: Evaluating the concordance in the prioritization of consultations is essential for gaining insights into the reality of referrals from primary care to higher complexity centers. Identifying the quality of these referrals can lead to the implementation of strategies to improve the process. Our study suggests that there is a need of improving the communication and education between higher complexity centers and primary health care centers.