An electronic referral system at Zuckerberg San Francisco General was found to be an effective and safe alternative to in-person referral and follow-up appointments for patients, according to a study published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.
The hospital developed eReferral in response to shortages in specialty referral systems in primary care. The hospital piloted the electronic referral system in the gastroenterology clinic and later introduced it into medical and surgical specialties across San Francisco Health Network.
Primary care physicians who submit electronic referrals can then communicate electronically with specialists to coordinate on care plans for patients.
Project leaders found that 68 percent of referrals reviewed electronically did not require the patient to have an in-person appointment with the specialist or were directed to other routes of care. Half of those patients were able to resolve the issue in a pre consultation exchange.
The system "enables identification of referrals at risk offing lost to follow-up, something that might be useful even in a non electronic referral system" wrote Christopher Stille, MD, in an accompanying editorial.
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