Basic Referral Workflow

1. Physician orders referral. The referral should be tasked to you; however, if it is not,

you can find it in the encounter. Below you will see where the form is found

accompanying a PROVIDER TEST ACTION. The Provider may also create a referral

during an office visit. In that case, the referral will be found in the ENCOUNTER.

** NOTE: THE REFERRAL MAY NOT ALWAYS BE IN THE ENCOUNTER OF THE DAY OF

THE ACTUAL VISIT. AS SEEN ABOVE, THE PHYSICIAN MAY OPEN A SEPARATE

ENCOUNTER TO COMPLETE THE REFERRAL ACTION!**

2. The following paperwork needs to be sent, in most cases. You will ATTACH these

items in the CUSTOM PRINT / SEND feature from the FILE menu at the top left of the

NextGen EHR screen.

Referral Form

Last Encounter (Master IM)

Latest Lab Results

Face Sheet

(Examples of following page)

Encounter Face Sheet

Referral Form Lab Results

3. Collect ALL the data you will need to get the referral to the specialist. (Fax number,

patient’s preferred time, etc.). **NOTE* *: Some specialists prefer to schedule the

patients directly and may not need patients data because they will contact patient

directly.

*** NOTE: THERE MAY BE TIMES WHERE A PRE-AUTHORIZATION IS REQUIRED FOR

SERVICES. IN THAT CASE YOU MUST CALL THE INSURANCE COMPANY AND RECEIVE

AUTHORIZATION TO SEND THE PATIENT TO THE SPECIALIST. ***

4. From the FILE menu at the top of the screen, select CUSTOM PRINT/SEND.

5. Change the MODE to FAX.

6. You can select items to fax by either ENCOUNTER or CATEGORY.

7. Move the items you need from the left to the right by highlighting the item and using

the arrows. Make sure you notate the encounter your items are in so they are

easier to find.

8. When you get all your items you need to fax, click the FAX button.

9. In the SEND FAX box, Select PERFORMING ENTITY for the destination. Enter the

information required to get the referral to the specialist. You can use the open box

in the right lower corner to send any special information that you need to go with

the referral (specific times, days, dates, etc.)

10. To check the status of the fax you just sent, go to FAX STATUS under the VIEW

menu at the top of the screen.

11. Leave the USER set to CURRENT USER (1). Click the SEARCH button (2). This will

pull up ALL the faxes for YOU. You can narrow what you want to look at by

changing the STATUS to PENDING, FAILED, EXTERNAL, OR SENT.

1

2

Faxing Lab Results

1. Go to the ORDERS MODULE by clicking the test tube icon on the PATIENT HISTORY

box on the righ side of the screen in the patients chart.

2. Select the results you need to send by clicking on the row you need to send.

3. Expand the RESULTS window by clicking on the arrow on the far left side of the

RESULTS bar.

4. Click on the FAX feature.

5. The steps for faxing are just like steps 9 through 11 ABOVE.

Document, Document, Document!!!!

Don’t forget to document that you faxed the referral. This will allow others to

see the status of the patient’s referral.