Client Story
Healthcare Referrals Spell Relief for Anxious Patients, Worried Doctors
In the Canadian healthcare system one of the problems facing physicians is gaining access to specialists to refer their patients in a timely manner. To the patient this results in frustrating delays with no one to turn to for answers. e-Referrals matches patients to the right specialist, at the right time, with the right information.
About The Ontario LHIN
The Ontario Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) oversee the operations of Healthcare in their respective regions in Ontario. Ontario’s healthcare is divided into 14 LHIN agencies, the LHIN are similar to Health Authorities across Canada. The LHINs’ mandate is to achieve better health through proactive, integrated and responsive health care in partnership with an informed community.
The Ontario LHIN Challenges
The nature of healthcare specialists is that they will only see patients they know are appropriate for treatment by them. In order to make these decisions, they require a complete portfolio of the patient’s information. Manual, paper-based processes for sharing this information are prone to error, loss of information and delays and can pose risks to patients receiving the appropriate treatment they need in time.
The Solution
With the goal of improving efficiencies in the flow of patients through the health care system, e-Referral provides a platform to improve patient care by improving wait times. When a health-care region uses eReferral patients don’t wait as long to see a specialist, and when they do, the specialist has all the information needed to make an accurate diagnosis. This improves patient satisfaction, reduces patient worry and stress, improves accurate diagnosis, and furthers the efficiency of care.
The Rewards
The e-Referrals solution addresses gaps that exist in information and workflow, among applications, organizations, and between providers and patients. Since implementing the e-Referrals solution, the following benefits have been realized:
- Improved wait times to access specialists.
- More accurate diagnoses.
- Improved efficiency of care and patient satisfaction.
“With the e-referral solution, primary care physicians can access a catalogue of specialist information in seconds, with a level of standardized content that is concise, informative and allows them to make appropriate decisions about acceptance and prioritization.”
John Hope PT, MSc. Regional Surgical Program Development Lead, SE LHIN
