Referral queue

The referral queue lists every referral waiting for an evaluation. Open Referral queue in the Patients panel of the main menu.

What is in the queue#

A patient appears in the queue when one of the patient's episodes of care is Referred and the chart is not Inactive or Discharged. That includes a patient already in treatment who is referred for another discipline. A patient referred for both speech therapy and occupational therapy shows once per discipline.

Each row shows the patient, the discipline, the priority, the referral date and how many days the patient has been waiting, who referred the patient, the payer, the days and times the family asked for, and intake notes. The payer is the primary coverage in effect today; until the patient has one, it is the payer named on the referral. A long note stays on one line; point at it or tab to it to read all of it. The queue lists Urgent referrals first, then Soon, then Routine; within each priority, the patient waiting longest comes first. Click a column header to sort by patient, discipline, priority, referral date or who referred instead.

Click Filter to narrow the queue by Discipline or Priority; the location switcher at the top of the menu narrows it to one location, and the patient panel to the patients you pick. You see only patients you have access to.

Add a referral#

1. Click New Referral. When you have picked one patient in the patient panel, the dialog starts with that patient.
2. Under Patient, pick the patient. For someone without a chart, turn on New patient and enter the legal first and last name, the date of birth and a phone number or email address. A minor also needs a legal guardian.
3. Under Referral, choose the Discipline and the Priority, then add the Referral date, the Referring physician and the Payer if you have them. For a patient with coverage on file, the payer starts on the primary coverage's payer. Pick the Referral source and who Referred by from your referral sources when the referral came from a school, office or program.
4. Under Scheduling, check the Requested days and Requested times and add Intake notes.
5. Click Add Referral.

The referral joins the queue and the intake board as a Referred episode with its intake details. A new chart starts with the Referral status, and a chart that was Inactive or Discharged returns to Referral. If the new patient looks like a chart you already have, the dialog lists the possible matches: pick that patient instead, or say why a new chart is needed and click Add Anyway.

Record intake details#

1. Open the row's menu and click Intake Details.
2. Choose a Priority.
3. Change the Payer the referral names, or choose None. Payers on the patient's coverage are listed first.
4. Check the Requested days and Requested times the family can come. For an ABA referral, also enter the Requested hours per week and check the Requested settings (home, school, clinic, community, telehealth).
5. Add Intake notes, such as "Family prefers the same therapist each week," then click Save Intake Details.

You can also record intake details from the chart: on the Episodes tab, open the episode's menu and click Intake Details.

Move a referral forward#

To book the evaluation, open the row's menu and click Book Evaluation. A new appointment opens with the patient, the episode and the Evaluation type filled in. Once you book it, the episode's status becomes Evaluation scheduled and the referral leaves the queue.

To see when someone could see the patient first, click Find a Time instead. The open-time finder opens with the referral's discipline and the days and times the family asked for, and picking a time opens the same new appointment at that time. Find a Time is also on the chart's Episodes tab for any open episode.

Both actions need your clinic's appointment types. If they are slow to load, a window says so; if they fail, click Retry or Cancel.

If the evaluation was arranged some other way, click Mark Evaluation Scheduled instead to move the referral on without booking.

Close a referral that is not going ahead#

1. Open the row's menu and click Not Proceeding.
2. Enter the Reason, such as "Family chose another clinic," then click Close Referral.

The episode is discharged today with that reason. If the patient has no other open episode, the chart becomes Inactive. To start care later, add a new episode and set the chart's status again.