ABSTRACT
An examination of the rate of exchange of clients among agencies gives a different picture from that developed by comparing the proportions of clients referred by the various agencies. Examining the number of clients exchanged per unit of time allows statements to be made about what exchanges are likely to be taking place at any given moment. When the volume of traffic alone is considered, the major movement of clients through the gatekeeper agents was obviously by people searching for medical care. Medical specialists contributed much less to the over-all client flow than did gatekeepers. Employment agencies served employers and in so doing served clients, and the same is true of the personnel offices of business and industry. Clergymen played essentially the same type of articulating role when they referred clients from their own ministrations to those of the system at large.
