Abstract: Objective To explore the management Methods of referring TB cases and suspects from general hospital to TB dispensary. Methods An operational research was conducted in 3 cities with 38 jurisdiction counties in Hunan province.Compare the case-finding level and the source of TB case and suspect before and after the implementation of the referral system during the study period. Results After the implementation of the referral system,the number of initial consultation cases were 51 468,increased by 71.8% compared with the level of 29 953 before the implementation of the referral system in the 3 prefectures.Among the initial consultation cases,13 056 arrived TB dispensary directly,increased by 51.0% and the number of cases referred by general hospital increased 21 515(194.0%).The registered new smear positive pulmonary TB cases increase by 103.7% with absolute number from 5 201 to 10 956.Among the new smear positive cases,the number of cases arrived TB dispensary directly increased by 1 944(47.3%) and the number of cases referred by general hospital increased by 3 451(315.2%).The number of cases referred by county hospital and township hospital increased by 1 932(337.8%) and 1 385(324.4%) respectively The notification of new smearpositive pulmonary TB was 58.47/100 000 in the project area and 30.13/100 000 in the non-project area in the same duration.The notification in project area was 94.4% higher than it was in non-project area. Conclusion In order to improve the case-finding level of pulmonary TB,the referring system implementation is a feasible and effective strategy.

Key words: Pulmonary tuberculosis/prevention and control