Optimizing Referrals at a Free Community Specialty Care Clinic

Referrals to specialty care are prolific, yet they are also associated with inefficiencies and clinician frustration. The literature suggests that structured referral templates improve the clarity and completeness of information exchange between multidisciplinary providers. This evidence-based practice project aimed to optimize multidisciplinary communication at a free specialty care clinic. Primary outcomes included specialty clinic provider and staff satisfaction, as well as primary care clinic intervention adherence. Specialty-specific referral templates were implemented for 5 specialties at the free clinic. The templates were piloted at 5 primary care referral sites and refined using the plan-do-study-act model. Templates improved satisfaction with overall referral processes, and 100% of survey respondents reported satisfaction with the finalized templates. Template adoption by referral sites was realistic and achievable, and referring primary care providers also expressed satisfaction with the templates. Specialty-specific referral templates are a no-to-low-cost intervention to improve information exchange between primary and specialty care providers.