Increasing Referrals: What Referring Doctors are Saying

Increasing Referrals: What Referring Doctors are Saying

As an Account Manager for Sophrona, part of what I love to do is to help clients implement, measure, and track progress with the Referral Portal. Recently, I was onsite at Paragon Eye Associates to discuss how the Referral Portal is working for their referring doctors. When I asked the team what used to be frustrating about the referral process, they listed several pain points:

• Lost faxes.
• Long wait times on hold trying to schedule a patient.
• Lack of follow up for patient referrals.
• Limited visibility to the result of the visit.
• Difficulty communicating with the specialist.
• No way to verify whether a patient kept the appointment.
• Patients often forget what they are being referred for.

Does any of this sound familiar? 

Sophrona’s Referral Portal alleviates pain points and increases referrals.

According to Stevie Strickland, Practice Director at Paragon, they made the decision to implement the Referral Portal to streamline the process and remove the burden of back and forth calls and faxes. Due to Sophrona’s seamless integration with their practice management system, real-time scheduling saves the Paragon staff valuable time.  In addition, the ability to send information electronically back to the referring doctors regarding the exam is easier than ever before.

“Before, we were getting about 100 referrals per day by fax. Since we’ve integrated with Sophrona, the Referral Portal has made our lives so much easier.”

When I asked Stevie what referring doctors are saying, here are some of the benefits she shared:

Real-time scheduling allows the referring doctor to book patient referrals directly with the practice. Waiting on hold is completely alleviated. This way, the practice is able to ensure the patient is scheduled for the follow up care they need.

The patient receives detailed information regarding their appointment before leaving the referring doctor’s office. This means they are fully informed with instructions on when and where to go for their visit.

Secure messaging provides a direct line of communication between the practice and the referring doctor.  This makes it much easier to exchange medical information without the risk of lost faxes.

Real-time reporting allows the referring provider to track their patients’ progress as they receive care with the specialist.

From a Referring Doctor’s Point of View

According to Ben Colston, O.D., an optometrist at Eyes on Broad who refers to Paragon Eye Associates, using the Referral Portal has been game changing for their practice.

“It’s been a game changer for us. Before, we would call the office, or have a back and forth with the patient about whether they would call to schedule, or if we needed to. The Referral Portal has made the process so much easier to login to the Portal, send information quickly, and let Paragon take it from there. No faxing has been a huge win.”

We also spoke with one of the team members at Eyes on Broad who is responsible for scheduling.  According to Bree, no longer having to wait on hold has helped the practice tremendously. Using the Referral Portal, the team can send a referral within minutes. Then, the patient receives an appointment before they leave the office.

Sending referred patients through Sophrona’s Referral Portal is helping practices increase referrals and enhance relationships with their referring doctors. 

How Can We Help?

Every day, Sophrona helps eye care practices leverage technology to increase referrals and strengthen communication with their referral network. We can help you address the important issues for your practice today so that you’re better prepared for tomorrow.

If you’d like to learn more, please contact our team to discuss how the Referral Portal can work for your practice.