Changes to outpatient referrals

In an effort to improve patient flow, reduce waiting lists and improve patient access, Mater has undertaken an extensive review of our ambulatory services.

As a result, Mater Specialist clinic has made two significant changes to the referral management process.

Standard referral form

Part of this review includes the introduction of a standardised referral form for our specialist outpatient clinics. Using the form will ensure we receive all the information we require in a referral, and that we won't have to contact referring doctors for clarity around their referral.

For a referral to be considered complete, Medicare requires eight pieces of information:

• the patient's name, address, date of birth and a contact number
• a Medicare number
• the presenting condition
• the referring doctor's provider number and address
• the referring doctor's signature
• the date of referral
• the referral must be legible
• the speciality and lead clinician (by name) to which the patient is being referred.

Referrals missing any of these elements cannot be accepted, and will be returned to the referring doctor for completion.

Referral Rejections

Mater Specialist clinic will not accept referrals if Mater cannot provide an appointment within 12 months. We are doing this for two reasons:

• We believe we need tell patients what the situation is so they can make informed decisions about their health care.
• We are committed to improving access to outpatients departments across the campus.

Comments

	GP
	this is just ridiculous........... Referrals missing any of these elements cannot be accepted, and will be returned to the referring doctor for completion.
	27/11/2009 5:15:08 PM
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	Business Referral Centre
	Thank you for your comment. To improve our services to patients and referring doctors, Mater’s Outpatient Clinics have developed new standard referral forms. The new forms will eliminate the need for Mater to contact you for clarity around clinical information or named referrals. We anticipate this will dramatically improve the speed with which we are able to process your patient referrals. Whist every effort has been made to ensure the change is as smooth as possible Mater acknowledges that it may cause some inconvenience in the short-term. We appreciate your support in this initiative to improve the timeliness of our response to your referrals. If you would like to discuss any of these changes please contact Mater’s Business Referral Centre on 07 3163 6866.
	1/12/2009 4:56:54 PM
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	p. lip
	cannot access your standard referral form site, the link is broken. also is the referral rejection because you cannot provide a service within 12 months - to make your figures look good? thanks
	2/12/2009 3:18:09 PM
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	Luke Morton
	Thanks for alerting me to the faulty link—I've fixed the problem. For future reference, all the referral forms on this site are accessible by clicking on "Referrals" in the menu at the top.
	2/12/2009 3:36:54 PM
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	T Eivers
	This is going to use up more time for ourselves and our secretaries. In the list of 8 essentials the only one that we would not routinely provide is the medicare number. If a legible letter includes all of these things will it still be rejected if not on your pro forma? I think you will end up with less information on the whole than more. Can we be guaranteed a consultant will sight the referral in order to make a decision on appointments? How will equal waiting times across all consultants within a specialty be maintained if referrals are on a named consultant basis?
	4/12/2009 4:07:24 PM
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	Business Referral Centre
	Referral rejections Mater has performed a major review of the Mater Adult Hospital and Mater Children's Hospital outpatient clinics and how we manage the patients. As part of the review, it was decided that patients who are referred to the outpatient clinics and could not be seen within 12 months was an unacceptable outcome for patient, therefore we would not accept these referrals. Due to the amount of new urgent referrals coming into the clinics, patients who are rated as category three (non-urgent) are being pushed further back on the waiting lists and in all likelihood would never be seen. It was decided this isn't acceptable or fair to the patient, and they should be told up front that they will not be seen within 12 months, so they can make an informed decision about their care.
	9/12/2009 7:35:17 PM
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	Rose O'Connor
	I have downloaded templates, & will be interested to see how patients are triaged on information supplied. This obviously is to look like something is being done in the hospital system, however takes up time for the normal GP & supporting staff
	15/12/2009 3:18:48 PM
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	Business Referral Centre
	Thank you for your enquiry regarding the recently introduced referral form for the Mater Outpatient Clinics. Below, you will find a response to the concerns you have raised: 1. If a legible letter includes all of these things will it still be rejected if not on your pro forma? Yes. If a legible letter is sent to Mater Outpatient Clinics it will be returned to the GP with a letter outlining the need for the 'standard' referral form. Mater has recently undergone a significant review of the Outpatient and Ambulatory flow within Mater Adult, Mater Mothers’ and Mater Children’s hospitals. This has resulted in the establishment of a new process to improve our current systems. The request to have all referrals on a 'standard' form and contain the 8 elements is designed to improve the flow for internal management of referrals as well as decreasing the number of times contact with the GP will be required, improving the efficiency of the referral process. 2. Can we be guaranteed a consultant will sight the referral in order to make a decision on appointments? Yes. All referrals at Mater Adult and Children's hospitals are triaged by a consultant. 3. How will equal waiting times across all consultants within a specialty be maintained if referrals are on a named consultant basis? Waiting times within a specialty will be shared across the consultants. The new standard referral form was designed to improve the flow of the referral, making it easier for the hospital to share the referrals amongst the consultants. As many doctors sub specialise, it is important for you to provide all relevant clinical information to ensure the referral is seen buy the appropriate specialist.
	16/12/2009 5:10:05 PM
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	Sue Rendle
	I downloaded the template went out of your page and wanted to keep a PDF version on file incasr computers go down. I cannot get back to the page without registering my email address for updates? does this mean I will be getting reminders by how many times I look at the template page?
	18/12/2009 11:36:40 AM
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	Jason Brown
	Thanks for your comment. When you register to download the referral forms you will be sent an email. This email contains a link to a web page that contains all relevant files. You should bookmark that page so you can revisit at any time. There is no need to re-register as the link to the page containing the forms does not change. If updates are made to any of the files on the page mentioned above, an email will be sent out notifying you that the files have been updated. Our system will not send multiple emails to one email address. If you have registered more than once, using the same email address, you will only receive one email.
	18/12/2009 3:39:14 PM
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	Business Referral Centre
	Triaging of patients on information supplied: All referrals are triaged based on the clinical information supplied on the standard referral form. All referrals are triaged by medical staff at Mater. Time taken up for the normal GP and supporting staff: Mater has recently undergone a review of the Outpatient and Ambulatory flow within Mater Adult, Mater Mothers' and Mater Children’s Hospitals. The review has resulted in the establishment of key elements or steps which will significantly improve processes for the patient. The request to have all referrals on a 'standard' form containing the 8 elements is designed to improve the flow for internal management of referrals as well as decreasing the number of times contact with the GP will be required, improving the efficiency of the referral process.
	22/12/2009 2:19:42 PM
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	Business Referral Centre
	It has been brought to our attention that the general fax number for the Business Referral Centre is often busy. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and to let you know we have investigated the need to install a new fax server. The situation is being rectified and once again we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
	2/03/2010 11:27:24 AM
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