Enhancing referrals and utilization of the Healthy Lifestyle clinic: a pre-and post intervention study in primary health care

BACKGROUND: Healthy Lifestyle clinics in Qatar aim to reduce non-communicable diseases through preventive interventions. Despite this, low referral rates and underutilization limit their effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a structured referral awareness intervention on increasing referrals and clinic utilization. METHODS: A pre–post quality improvement study was conducted at Healthy Lifestyle clinic in Rawdat Al-Khail Health Center, Qatar (July 2024–May 2025). Digital and printed educational materials were deployed across ten Primary Health Care Centers. Referral data and clinic utilization rates were analyzed using Poisson regression and Mann–Whitney U tests. RESULTS: New referrals rose from 25 to 66 post-intervention (2.64-fold increase; IRR: 1.69; p = 0.033). Clinic utilization improved from a median of 31% to 54.5% (p = 0.016). However, appropriate referrals declined, and only 40% included completed risk documentation. CONCLUSION: Low-cost, structured interventions can enhance service utilization. Ongoing quality monitoring and provider training are needed to improve referral accuracy and impact.