Patient Referrals: Increasing Efficiency
As an Account Manager for Sophrona, part of my job is helping clients implement new portal functionality. Recently, I was onsite introducing our Referral Portal to one of our client’s referring doctor groups. The office had three assistants who handled patient referrals. When I asked the team what was frustrating about the referral process they listed issues that may sound familiar:
Long wait times on hold trying to schedule a patient. If a patient was instructed to schedule an appointment directly, they would either not do it, forget what they were being referred for, or not let the specialist know they were referred. As a result, there was a lack of follow up for patient referrals.
Beyond these challenges, the team expressed frustration with lost faxes and difficulty communicating with the specialist when there was a question or issue.
Sound familiar?
Implementing Sophrona’s Referral Portal helps to alleviate frustrations with patient referrals.
Real-time scheduling allows the referring doctor to book patient referrals directly with the practice, eliminating staff wait time on hold and ensuring the patient receives the care they need. Secure messaging provides a direct line of communication between offices for exchange of records and medical information without the risk of lost faxes. And real-time reporting allows the referring provider to track their patients’ progress as they receive care with the specialist. Further, patients are handed detailed information regarding their upcoming appointment before leaving the referring doctor’s office, so they are fully informed and ready for their visit.
After training referring providers on the Referral Portal, team members are often surprised by how fast and easy the process of referring patients becomes. A recent trainee commented:
“I could have used the Referral Portal and scheduled our patient in less time than I was on hold with a practice earlier today. I can’t wait to start using this!”
Increasing efficiency of patient referrals through use of Sophrona’s Referral Portal is helping practices grow referrals and enhance relationships with their referring doctors. If you’d like to learn more, please contact our team and we’ll discuss how Referral Portal can work for your practice.
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