Healthcare clinic operations · Patient access
Incoming referral management
Turn every referral that arrives by fax, email or portal into a booked appointment, without losing any along the way. The referring practice completes what is missing through a shared link, a physician sets the urgency, and the referrer hears back twice: with the outcome and with the consult report.
- Duration: 1 to 4 weeks
- How often: For every incoming referral
- Steps: 8 steps
- AI agents: 1 AI agent
- Approvals: 1 approval
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What changes with this template
Without it
Referrals arrive by fax, email and phone, and some are never booked.
Incomplete referrals sit in a tray while staff phone the referring office.
Urgent referrals wait in the same queue as routine ones.
Referring physicians never hear what happened to the patient they sent.
With it
Every referral starts a run, and open referrals stay visible until they are closed.
The referring practice gets one request and confirms what it sent through a shared link.
A physician sets the urgency before booking, and the booking follows it.
The referring practice gets the outcome and, after the first visit, the consult report.
The template, step by step
Each step says who does it: someone on your team, an AI agent, or the client through a shared link. An approval keeps every later step locked until it is given.
- Done by your team
- Done by an AI agent
- Done by the client, through a shared link
Starts when
A referral arrives from a referring practice. The referral coordinator starts a run with the referral reference number and the referring practice.
- 1
Log the referral
Day 1Referral coordinator · Team
Start the run with the referral reference number from the clinical system, never the patient's name, and tick what the referral already contains.
Checklist
- Reason for referral stated
- Recent test results included
- Insurance details present
- Referring clinician's contact details present
Fields to fill in
- Referral reference number (required)
- Referring practice (required)
- Specialty (required)
- Referring practice email (required)
- 2
Check the referral against the requirements
Day 1Referral checker · AI agent
The referral checker compares what step 1 ticked with the referral requirements for the specialty in its instructions, lists what is missing and drafts a request to the referring practice.
Fields to fill in
- Missing information (required)
- Draft request to the referring practice
Checked by: The referral coordinator checks the list and the request before sending it in step 3.
- 3
Request what is missing
Day 1Referral coordinator · Team
Check the list of missing information against the referral, correct the draft and send it to the referring practice with the shared run link. If nothing is missing, complete the step.
Checklist
- Missing list checked against the referral
- Request sent with the shared link
- 4
Send the missing information
Days 1 to 5Referring practice · Shared link
Through the shared link, the referring practice confirms what it has sent through the usual secure channel and who to call with questions.
Checklist
- Missing documents sent through the secure channel
- Referral letter signed by the referring clinician
Fields to fill in
- What was sent (required)
- Phone number for questions
- 5
Triage the referral
Hidden from the shared linkWithin 2 working daysSpecialist physician · Team
Read the referral in the clinical system, decide whether to accept it, and set its urgency and the type of first appointment. Only the outcome goes on the run; your reasoning stays in the clinical record.
Fields to fill in
- Decision (required)
- Urgency (required)
- First appointment type
Approval: Booking stays locked until the specialist physician accepts the referral and sets its urgency.
- 6
Book the appointment
Within the urgency windowScheduling coordinator · Team
Book the first appointment within the window that matches the urgency, tell the patient the date and start the new patient intake. If the physician declined the referral, complete the step without booking.
Checklist
- Booked within the urgency window
- Patient told the date
- New patient intake started
Fields to fill in
- Appointment date
- 7
Tell the referring practice
Day of bookingReferral coordinator · Team
Send the referring practice the appointment date, or the physician's decision to decline with any advice, and update the referral status in the clinical system.
Checklist
- Referring practice told the outcome
- Referral status updated in the clinical system
Fields to fill in
- Referring practice told on (required)
- 8
Send the consult report back
After the first visitMedical secretary · Team
Once the physician has signed the consult report, send it to the referring practice through the secure channel and close the referral.
Checklist
- Consult report signed by the physician
- Report sent to the referring practice
- Referral closed in the clinical system
Fields to fill in
- Report sent on (required)
Done when
The patient is booked at the urgency the physician set, the referring practice knows the outcome, and the consult report has gone back after the first visit.
Make it yours. Rename steps, change owners and add checklist items, fields or approvals. The template is a starting point for the way your team works.
The AI agents in this template
An agent only works on its own steps, and a person on your team checks what it did. Anything an agent writes to a connected app waits for approval unless you allow it.
Referral checker
Checks each referral against your requirements for the specialty and drafts the request for what is missing.
What it does
- Reads the specialty and what step 1 ticked as present
- Compares it with the referral requirements in its step instructions
- Records the missing information and a draft request in its step
- Completes its step, so the referral coordinator can check it
Checked by: The referral coordinator checks the list and the request before sending it in step 3.
Questions this template answers
Log every referral the day it arrives and give it one owner until the referring practice has heard back. Step 1 starts a run for each referral, and the run stays open until step 8 sends the consult report and closes it.
List exactly what is missing and ask the referring practice once, in one place. In step 3 the referral coordinator sends the request, and in step 4 the referring practice confirms through a shared link what it has sent.
A physician of the specialty, never the front desk or an AI agent. Step 5 is an approval gate: booking stays locked until the specialist physician accepts the referral and sets its urgency.
Let AI check each referral against your requirements for the specialty and draft the request for what is missing. Step 2 does this, and in step 3 the referral coordinator checks the list before anything is sent.
Tell the referring practice the outcome as soon as the referral is booked or declined, and send the consult report after the first visit. Step 7 sends the outcome, and step 8 records when the report went back.
Book against the urgency the physician set, not the first free slot. Step 6 follows the urgency recorded in step 5, and the scheduling coordinator ticks that the booking falls within its window.
Run this workflow in OKiDO
Set up the steps, owners and approvals once, then start a run for every new case.