Ethics: The Responsibility of the Referral Veterinarian

By Faith E. Hughes, DVM, DACVS

In today’s practice environment, referral of a patient is often in the best interest of that patient and is geographically available to most veterinarians. The logistics of referral are critical, and the importance of the roles played by each party— general practitioner, referral veterinarian and client/horse owner—cannot be underestimated. This includes the  events before, during and after the patient receives care. The focus of this article is the responsibility of the receiving referral veterinarian.