Standardized eReferral Forms

With more than 1,400 eReferral forms historically available on the Ocean eReferral Forms Library, variation in form design has created challenges and bottlenecks for clinicians, including increased administrative and cognitive burden.

SRFs address this by introducing a consistent, standardized structure that captures clinically relevant information required for appropriate triage and subsequent patient care. By streamlining referral content and format, SRFs reduce administrative burden by improving referral quality, enhancing routing accuracy, and supporting more timely access to care, while also strengthening clinical efficiency and health system-level data quality.

Benefits

SRFs provide benefits for both the referring clinician (who initiates and sends referrals) as well as the receiving clinician (who receives and reviews referrals).

For referring clinicians

• Reduces cognitive load and time spent navigating forms
• Limits information collection to only what is essential for triaging referrals and scheduling appointments through auto-completion from Electronic Medical Records (EMR) when possible
• Structures to minimize number of clicks
• Results in fewer refused referrals due to clear eligibility criteria
• Improves information exchange for a smoother referral experience

For receiving clinicians

• Results in more completed referrals, reducing time needed for triage decisions
• Offers ability to hide clinical indications that are outside scope of practice resulting in fewer inappropriate referrals
• Reduces administrative burden through streamlined form processes, less back-and-forth to gather missing information

Types of SRFs Available

SRFs support priority areas under Central Intake – including diagnostic imaging (computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) cataract, orthopedics and mental health and addictions provincial coordinated access – along with several other clinical specialties and a universal referral form. SRFs align with standards developed based on eReferral standardization best practices for referral consistency and support accurate triaging and patient-centred care.

SRFs available in the OceanMD library:

• Bariatrics
• Cardiology
• Cataract
• Diagnostic assessment centres (such as the Building Enhanced Assessment for Cancer in Ontarians with Non-specific and Specific High-risk Symptoms Suspicion of Cancer Service, or BEACON)
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology
• Infectious disease
• Medical imaging
• Mental health and addictions provincial coordinated access
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Orthopedic
• Otolaryngology
• Plastic surgery
• Psychiatry
• Respirology
• Rheumatology
• Urology
• Universal (provides a standardized option for referrals for any specialist)

For users already in the Amplify Care eReferral Network, transitioning from existing referral forms to SRFs can be facilitated by contacting your local regional deployment team for guidance and support.

SRFs in development

Additional SRFs will continue to be developed and will be released in a phased approach.

Development of SRFs

SRFs are developed through a clinician-led, collaborative process with Amplify Care (formerly eHealth Centre of Excellence).

This process includes:

• analyzing existing eReferral forms, beginning with the most used forms
• conducting environmental scan and developing draft SRF
• organizing preliminary review with clinical dyad (one primary care clinician and one specialist), Ontario Health quality teams, Indigenous, equity, digital health standards, user experience, customer experience teams, and patient partners
• initiating broader clinical review with external clinical organizations, allied health care professionals and administrators
• finalizing and delivering forms to vendors after consolidating feedback

Clinical priorities for SRFs

Clinical priorities for each phase of SRF development are selected using key criteria: primary care priority issues, Ontario Health eReferral priorities, clinical programs funded by Ontario Health, provincial referral volumes, and leveraging existing well-developed forms for immediate improvement opportunities. Feedback from clinicians is also gathered to identify which forms are most needed in practice, helping ensure that priorities are aligned with demand.

Clinician consultations

Over 30,000 Ontario clinicians have been engaged to provide feedback, along with consultations from different key clinical associations, such as but not limited to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO) and Ontario Primary Care Council (OPCC).