NYGH eReferral

North York General (NYGH) has introduced eReferrals, using the well-established Ocean platform, to make it simpler and faster for primary care providers to securely refer patients for common hospital services including paediatric care, mental health and soon diagnostic imaging and surgery. EReferrals allow physicians, specialists and other clinicians to send and receive referrals and exchange patient information quickly and securely online, replacing outdated fax-based referrals.

Primary care physicians in Toronto are using the Ocean eReferral platform, enabling them to find the right specialists more quickly, and support patient care management. Across Ontario, more and more hospitals are using the eReferral platform including Michael Garron Hospital, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, The Ottawa Hospital, Joseph Brant Hospital, Cambridge Memorial Hospital and many more.

The Ocean eReferral system was designed to streamline the referral process without disrupting existing workflows. Clinicians can find a specialist, send a referral, keep a record in the EMR and track the status of referrals from the Ocean Portal. Using the eReferral system, physicians can:

• search for specialists, services and programs by wait times, procedure type and proximity to a patient’s home
• create, send, track and update patient referrals all in one place
• quickly send and receive secure follow-up communication with specialists and organizations to reduce the number of calls and faxes
• pre-populate referral forms with information taken directly from a patient’s EMR
• automatically check that all mandatory fields in a referral form are complete

Ereferrals save time while increasing the quality and transparency of referrals. For example, the referring physician has all up-to-date information about specialists and services e.g., wait times in one place to help them make informed referrals and easily reach their preferred specialists.

Ereferrals increase primary care and specialist satisfaction and enhance collaboration among clinicians by making it easier to share information and coordinate patient care. Specialists will receive referrals more quickly allowing them to see patients sooner, while eRefrrerals enhance specialist satisfaction and support collaboration with primary care.

• Administrative tasks are lessened, such as the need to make follow-up phone calls
• All costs are covered by the Ontario eServices Program, including training and set up
• Specialists will receive referrals more quickly allowing them to see patients sooner
• Ereferrals enhance specialist satisfaction and support collaboration with primary care
• Clinical guidelines are integrated into eReferral forms supporting best practices, e.g., when it’s clinically appropriate to request an X-ray versus MRI

Patients will receive timely information about their referral situation to help them plan and schedule their appointments. Patients receive email notifications including where to park, screening requirements, pre-appointment instructions.

Access the enrollment form (eServices Ontario form). Once registered, a member of the eReferral team will contact you to help you get going. After you get up and running, you will find that referrals are more straightforward and will benefit from comprehensive and timely information about your patients. You will find it easier to find and communicate with specialists to meet your patients’ needs – in North York and elsewhere in Ontario.

North York’s eReferral initiative is a partnership between NYGH, primary care and community health partners, the eHealth Centre of Excellence (external website), which is part of the Ministry of Health-funded eServices Program that facilitates care transitions, and CognisantMD (external website), a national leader in EMR-integrated patient engagement solutions such as the Ocean platform.