Fall 2026 Edition of the West Deployment Team Newsletter
Welcome to the September 2026 Edition of the West Deployment Team Newsletter for health professionals in the West Region!
Our West Deployment Team supports the deployment of eReferral across South West, Waterloo Wellington, Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant, and Erie St. Clair.
In this Issue:
eReferral News:
- Who’s Next for eReferral?
- Discover newly added services and programs accepting eReferrals
- Upcoming eReferral Webinar – eReferral: A Connected Care Success Story
- What’s the Difference? eReferral vs eFax
- Standardized eReferral Forms
- New Case Study! Exploring the Impact of the Medical Imaging Standardized eReferral Form
- eReferral by the Numbers – West Region
- Regional eReferral Highlights
Discover What’s New at Amplify Care:
- Help Close the Gap in Chronic Kidney Disease Screening in Primary Care
eReferral News:
Who’s Next for eReferral?
More clinicians are choosing Ocean eReferral to streamline referral management in a secure and reliable way. The Ontario eReferral Network continues to rapidly grow across our region!
Already using eReferral? Tell us who should join next! The more organizations using eReferral, the less time everyone spends managing faxes.
Not using Ocean eReferral yet? Let’s connect! There is no cost for using Ocean eReferral, and our Change Management Team will set you up, configure your EMR, provide training, and support you and your staff every step of the way.
Connect with our team here: WestRegion@amplifycare.com.
New eReferral Receivers!
Discover newly added services and programs live on the eReferral Ontario Network:
For more information on all receiving sites currently available, please visit the Ocean Healthmap.
COMING SOON!
Over the next few months, we will see more listings in the Ocean Healthmap for clinics at the following hospitals:
| Chatham-Kent Health Alliance | St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital |
| Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance | Wingham and District Hospital |
| Listowel Memorial Hospital |
Save the Date! Upcoming eReferral Webinar
Looking to hear firsthand about the journey of eReferral adoption, key successes achieved across Ontario, and the collaborative efforts that continue to build a more connected and coordinated healthcare system?
Please join Amplify Care’s next webinar – “eReferral: A Connected Care Success Story” on Thursday, October 29th at 12:15 p.m.!
This webinar will explore how eReferral has evolved from a local innovation into a provincial priority, supporting Ontario’s Patients Before Paperwork (Pb4P) initiative to reduce administrative burden and improve clinician experience. Learn how eReferral delivers benefits for clinicians, healthcare organizations, patients, and the broader health system through enhanced care coordination, streamlined access to services, and more efficient referral management.
We hope you will join us! Register HERE!
What is the Difference? eFax and eReferral Explained
With more than 800 specialists (188 Ocean Directory Listings) from London Health Sciences Centre and Hamilton Health Sciences added since the spring of 2026, Ocean eReferral users may have noticed Directory Listings with a Send eReferral via eFax button.
Ontario Health’s Electronic Data Transfer (eDT), which is similar to eFax, supports the eReferral program by enabling the delivery of electronic referrals to hospital based specialists not yet fully onboarded to the eReferral platform. This phased approach will bring immediate benefits while building toward full integration.
eDT/eFax Benefits:
- Even when delivered by eFax, sending clinicians benefit from one directory, one standardized form, and one consistent way to submit referrals
- Receiving sites benefit from receiving consistent and completed standardized forms
- Standardized forms are a foundational component to streamlining the referral process
- eFax expands destinations now while integration progresses
There are many similarities between eReferral and eDT/eFax, and some differences too.
The main difference between eDT/eFax and eReferral is that once the eReferral has been sent, it is no longer updated within Ocean. The Sending site will receive appointment information either by fax or telephone, which the Sender can record in Ocean.
Questions about managing eReferrals sent by eDT/eFax?
More information about eFax workflows can be found on OceanMD’s website, or you can reach out to your Change Management Specialist or to the West Deployment Team’s general email at WestRegion@amplifycare.com with any questions.
Standardized eReferral Forms
In an effort to reduce administrative burden, improve clinician and patient experience, and to support the goals of the Patients Before Paperwork (Pb4P) initiative, Ontario Health and Amplify Care are collaborating to develop standardized eReferral forms.
All specialty forms are developed using a standardized structure and established best practices, and are co-designed with consultant specialists, family physicians, nurse practitioners, specialized care organizations, administrators, and Ontario Health Teams.
There are currently 481 Directory Listings* in the West Region using a Standardized eReferral Form!
There are 29 Standardized eReferral forms available*:
| Bariatrics | Neurology |
| Cardiology | Neurosurgery |
| Cataract | Obstetrics & Gynecology |
| Dermatology | Orthopedic |
| Endocrinology | Otolaryngology |
| Gastroenterology | Pediatrics (General) |
| General Surgery | Plastic Surgery |
| Geriatrics | Psychiatry |
| Hematology | Respirology |
| Infectious Disease | Rheumatology |
| Internal Medicine (General) | Sickle Cell Disease |
| Medical Imaging | Suspicion of Cancer (BEACON) |
| Mental Health & Addictions Provincial Coordinated Access | Universal Form |
| Urology | |
| Nephrology | Vascular Surgery |
COMING SOON – Phase 4 Standardized eReferral Forms:
Phase 4(a) forms targeted for go-live this fall include:
- Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory
- Diabetes Education Program
- Ontario Lung Screening Program
- Ophthalmology
- Palliative Care
- Sleep Medicine
The links to these draft specialty forms can be found on the Amplify Care website.
Phase 4(b) forms targeted to go live December 2026 include:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Pediatric Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)
- Pediatric Neurology
- Pediatric Urology
New Case Study!
Amplify Care, in collaboration with Ontario Health, clinical advisors and other partners, conducted a case study to explore the impact of the Medical Imaging Standardized eReferral Form (MI SRF) on clinicians’ efficiency when submitting CT, MRI, and X-ray referrals compared to existing referral workflows.
Three primary care clinicians participated in simulated referral scenarios using both the Medical Imaging Standardized Referral Form (SRF) and current non-standardized medical imaging forms.
Across 16 time-tracked simulated referrals, the Medical Imaging SRF demonstrated potential workflow efficiency benefits:
Participants also highlighted several potential benefits of the Medical Imaging SRF, including:
- Improved formatting and usability
- Increased efficiency
- A streamlined and standardized referral process
These promising findings demonstrate that the Medical Imaging SRF may help support more efficient and standardized referral processes. Additional evaluation will further inform its impact across diverse referral pathways, EMR environments and user groups.
Click here to read the Case Study!
eReferral by the Numbers – West Region
eReferral
*as of August 31, 2026
*all data above except for the number of receiving sites is from the Amplify Care Network
Regional eReferral Highlights
* as of August 31, 2026
* data above is from Amplify Care Network
Discover What’s New at Amplify Care!
Early to moderate Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) often presents without symptoms – leading to missed opportunities for diagnosis and intervention in primary care.
At the same time, 90% of CKD cases are low risk of progression, meaning primary care clinicians are well positioned to manage the majority of these patients with the right supports in place.
Amplify Care has partnered with CHEP+, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve health care quality and patient safety by supporting clinicians with enhanced professional development and health education. Together, we are committed to supporting the Saving 100K Kidney initiative. This initiative aims to help clinicians improve early detection and screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD), while also supporting interventions that may help prevent further disease progression.
Amplify Care is developing a practical, EMR-based CKD toolkit designed to support clinicians:
- Identifying at-risk patients
- Diagnosing CKD earlier
- Managing care using guideline-informed pathways
We’re excited to share that we’ve had some great feedback from clinicians who have stepped forward to test our updated CKD tool! If you are interested in becoming an early adopter to help improve care and health outcomes for your patients, please fill out the Expression of Interest form linked below and someone from Amplify Care’s EQUIP team will reach out to connect with more information!
Amplify Mission
For more information, please visit our website: www.amplifycare.com or contact us at WestRegion@amplifycare.com