Mount Sinai Launches Patient Referral System

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Outsourcing of referral systems aims to improve patient outcomes and efficiency.

Mount Sinai Health System has announced it is partnering with par8o, a Boston-based software company, to create a faster patient referral system. The new system aims to match patients to the right resource at the appropriate time, providing a pathway to keep patients within the extensive Mount Sinai network.

According to Mount Sinai officials, effective referrals are an important part of patient care, particularly for patients with chronic illnesses. “Major healthcare systems must care for patients in referral networks that shift people smoothly back and forth between well and sick care, and that track their progress at all times,” Jeremy Boal, MD, chief medical officer at Mount Sinai Health System, said.

The platform will initially be deployed in medical practices that are part of the Beth Israel Medical Group within the Mount Sinai Health System, including practices that both send and receive referrals. The early stages of implementation are anticipated to include nearly 2,500 care providers, along with roughly the same number of scheduling and support staff.

The platform will be integrated into practice workflows through a desktop application and a secure web platform (e.g. in the cloud) that helps systems talk to each other. In the second phase of deployment, the program will expand to include all hospital-based, affiliated, network, ambulatory site, and interested voluntary providers across the Health System. “Effective referrals are a foundation of ensuring high quality care across patient populations, and this new operating system will confirm that every referred patient is seen, and seen quickly.” Boal stated.

Many healthcare organizations are turning to outsourcing as a patient referral solution. Physician finder sites are often the first point of contact for a patient when accessing a hospital or health system, but a Kyruus report revealed 52.5 percent of hospitals and health systems lack the ability for patients to narrow their search for a clinically appropriate doctor based on medical conditions or symptoms, according to Health IT Outcomes.