Creating a referral
Refer a patient to a specialist (oral surgeon, orthodontist, periodontist) with the relevant clinical info.
Overview
When a case is beyond your scope or specialty, refer the patient onward. The referral form bundles the relevant chart, X-rays, and notes for the specialist.
Prerequisites
- Clinical role
- A specialist directory entry (or a free-text specialist contact)
- The patient's relevant clinical data
Steps
Open Referrals. Top nav → Referrals.
Click "+ New referral".
Pick the patient. Search.
Select the specialist. Dropdown of saved specialists; or + New to add ad-hoc (name, specialty, contact).
Pick the specialty type. Endodontics, Oral Surgery, Periodontics, Orthodontics, Prosthodontics, Pediatric, Other.
Describe the reason. Free text; templates available — "Wisdom tooth extraction", "Suspected oral pathology", "Complex root canal".
Attach clinical artifacts. Tick the chart, X-rays, treatment plan, recent notes you want sent. The patient gets a copy too if you tick Share with patient.
Send. Status SENT. The specialist receives an email link to a secure web portal where they can review and reply.
Track in Referrals list. New referral appears with status, due-by-date for first response, and patient.
Expected outcome
- A
Referralrecord with specialist, reason, attachments, status SENT - Specialist gets an email link
- Patient profile shows the referral on the Referrals tab
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist email bounced | Wrong address | Edit the specialist record |
| Attachments not visible to specialist | Permissions issue | The link is patient-scoped; specialist sees only what's attached |
| Patient didn't get a copy | Box unchecked | Re-share via the referral detail page |
Referral stuck SENT for weeks | Specialist hasn't responded | Manually nudge; or mark complete and proceed |
| Multiple referrals for same patient | Each referral is a separate record | Acceptable — not a duplicate |