Referral Management for Connect Care Users

Referral is a prescribing process in which one provider (prescriber) requests services of another provider (consultant). Referral management is about how accountability is assigned, standards are applied, error is minimized, and communication is coordinated. Closed loop referral management tracks all referral actions, with patient, prescriber and consultant aware of expectations and outcomes at each phase from need discovery to need fulfillment.

As Connect Care grows, closed loop referral management can grow. Hybrid processes will continue during transitions and where referrals bridge Connect Care and non-Connect Care spaces.

• Where both referrer and consultant use Connect Care as the record of care, all referrals must be ordered and managed using Connect Care tools and workflows.
• All referrals that can be initiated and fulfilled within the CIS use closed-loop referral management, providing patients and providers with a clear understanding of referral progress.
• Referrals to Connect Care consultants from prescribers who do not use the Connect Care CIS can be accepted via facsimile, mail, telephone, Netcare eReferral or (preferably) the Connect Care Provider Portal. This gets a referral to intake. Thereafter referral management occurs within Connect Care, with communications e-delivered, faxed, eReferral-recorded or mailed to the referring provider.

For more information:

• Byte: Connect Care Referral Management
• Backgrounder: Referral Management