5 tips for tightening up referrals at your practice

Blog
Article

Enhance patient care with five strategies to streamline referrals, ensuring seamless specialty care and reducing risks for your practice.

Referral management FAQ

What’s the most common referral mistake practices make?

Failing to close the loop—patients never see the specialist, or the referring physician never reviews the notes.

How can practices reduce liability when making referrals?

Document everything: the rationale, the steps you took, and the follow-up from the specialist.

Do referral protocols really make a difference?

Yes. Standardized processes make referrals more consistent and improve payer compliance.

Can technology improve referral management?

Absolutely. Data analytics, AI tools, and referral tracking dashboards can all help streamline the process.

How do stronger communication practices help referrals?

Two-way communication between primary care and specialists ensures the patient doesn’t get lost in the handoff.

When a patient leaves your office with a referral slip, it should represent the start of seamless specialty care. Too often, though, the process falls apart. Patients forget to schedule, specialists never send notes back, or documentation gaps raise liability concerns. The result? Fragmented care, frustrated patients, and potential revenue leakage for your practice. By rethinking how referrals are handled, physicians and administrators can strengthen continuity of care, reduce risks, and make the process smoother for everyone involved. Here are five strategies to tighten up your referral process.

Newsletter

Optimize your practice with the Physicians Practice newsletter, offering management pearls, leadership tips, and business strategies tailored for practice administrators and physicians of any specialty.

Recent Videos
Staying productive over Labor Day weekend
Does your practice need more staff?
Beating the late-summer slump
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.