How to Send a Referral Follow-Up Letter

The Referral Follow-Up List consolidates the task of writing/sending referral follow-ups in one place. A patient is added to the list when an appointment is completed (checked out) that was the result of a referral, and removed from the list once the correspondence is sent. A record of the letter/email is saved in the Patient Correspondence window. 

This worklist is found on the Location tab's To Do list, and as an Actions option (Manage Follow-Ups) on the Referral Activity window.

To send a follow-up letter or email to the referral source:

1. From the Location tab, select To Do > Referral Follow-Up List.
   
2. Use the filters to refine the list as needed.
   Note: 
   -- Search for specific patients or referral sources if needed.
   -- You can also narrow the list to a specific Referral Type.
   -- Select Hide Completed Follow-Ups to remove them from the list.
   -- Select First Appointment Only to limit the follow ups to only the first appointment of a referred patient.
3. Select the patient. Appointment details are expanded.
4. Click Send Follow-Up. The Send Follow-Up window is displayed. The patient name and referral source are entered automatically.
5. Select Email or Letter.
6. Use the Using Letter/Email Template search field to select a template. The contents of the template are displayed in the main panel.
7. Select the treatment plan the correspondence is referencing, if applicable.
8. Select an Outside Doctor, if applicable.
9. Select Edit This Letter or Edit This Email. The correspondence becomes editable.
10. Use the edit controls to add, delete, or remove content as needed.
11. Click Save Letter or Save Email.
12. After saving your changes, click Send or Send All. A .PDF of the correspondence is added to the list in the Patient Correspondence window.
    -- If Email is selected, the email is sent automatically.
    -- If Letter is selected, select the letter in the list and click Download File. You can then print the file and mail it.

Note: If multiple follow-ups exist for the patient, the number (i.e., 1/3) and arrows are displayed at the top of the window. Use these arrows to access additional templates and compose the necessary correspondence, and then click Send All. 

Marking Follow-Ups as Done

You can click on a patient to expand the appointment details, and then click Mark As Done to mark the follow-up appointment as completed.

To mark multiple follow-ups as done:

1. Select the patients from the list.
2. From the Actions menu, click Mark as Done. If correspondence has not been created for the selected patient appointments, a message is displayed asking you to confirm if you want to mark the follow-ups as done. 

Note: The Referral Source Management and Referral Reports functionalities are accessible by team members who are included in the Administrators group. Users that are not Administrators need to be granted permission to access the Referral Follow-Up List. See How to Assign Group and User Permissions for more information on how to edit user permissions.

For more information, see How to Manage Referral Sources, How to Track Referral Activity, and How to Create a Referral Correspondence Template.