eReferral for Orthopedic central intake

Champlain MSK Central Intake (CI) processed over 3000 referrals for spine surgery consultations between December 2019 and February 2021. Faxes that are received at CI are transcribed into Ocean so that the surgical teams can manage all referrals on the eReferral platform​

Specially trained physiotherapists at CI review and prioritize all referrals and distribute among the 11 spine surgeons at the Ottawa Hospital, thereby standardizing the process and offloading efforts that otherwise need to be handled by the surgeons themselves​

Detailed analytic data including wait times and wait list counts stratified by surgeon and priority are available from the eReferral system, which the CI use to make referral management decisions. ​

130 referrals have been redistributed to date with the aim to ensure prioritized patients are seen by surgeons that are available soonest​

One spine surgeon has taken part in a specialist-initiated eConsult in response to an eReferral, as part of a proof of concept. This functionality provides an important alternative for referrals that were triaged as low priority or would have otherwise been declined ​