How Healthcare Providers Can Use Referral Software to Improve Patients’ Experience

At Strata Health, we work closely with healthcare providers to develop solutions and strategies that improve the patient referral process. The reality is that the referral process is complex and typically requires collaboration across multiple care providers. Ensuring consistency, accuracy, and efficiency are vital to protecting optimal patient health outcomes. When care providers rely on manual processes alone, patient referrals are left vulnerable to human error and communication breakdown. A referral that falls through the cracks results in delays for diagnoses and treatment, potentially having a negative impact on patient health outcomes. Empowering patients with timely and appropriate care should be a vital priority for our healthcare system. The solution requires effective referral systems that break down communication silos and eliminate the possibility of mistakes and discrepancies. Ultimately, a fragmented continuum of care is difficult for patients to navigate and frustrating for healthcare providers to manage. Utilizing appropriate technology to improve the referral process can help address this situation, both for care providers and their patients. Patient referral software, like Strata PathWays, improves the patient experience in the following ways.

1. Helping to Coordinate the Right Care for the Right Patient

• Care coordinators can access a comprehensive database of referral resources and a recommendation algorithm, allowing them to better identify appropriate referral options for their patients’ needs.
• Care providers can better qualify referrals and approve or deny with ease and real-time communication back to the source.
• Referrals are easy to track, allowing care providers insight into referral progress with a shared source of truth, updated in real-time.
• The system functions more smoothly, reducing inefficiencies and backlogs as patients transition between care settings, leading to a reduction in the time patients spend waiting to see care providers.

2. Helping Reduce the Likelihood of Errors and Omissions

• In Canada, medical error accounts for 28,000 deaths a year. Automating referral processes minimizes risk in the hand off of information and transition of patients between providers.
• Automated, standardized processes streamline the referral process, reducing the administrative burden on clinicians.
• A shared source of truth provides a common understanding of the progress of a patient’s referral and allows for clearer, informed communication.
• Patients can feel more confident and comfortable in the referral process, reducing unnecessary stress and frustration that can take a heavy emotional toll on a patient and their family when referrals are lost or stall in the process.

Improving referral processes and systems is critical to better patient experience of the overall continuum of care. Adopting digital solutions like referral software can effectively and efficiently address referral and wider communication challenges. The result is a better experience for patients, providers, and an overall more efficient health system. To learn more about Strata Pathways Software and how you can improve the continuum of care for your patients, reach out to us today.