Referrals

Every referral, from first enquiry to the end of service

Referrals arrive from multiple sources — a medical team, a website form submitted by the family, a social services team, and more. Ameryst tracks each one through its progression, records why it was accepted or declined, and keeps the history if the same person comes back a year later.

How it works

A referral is a history, not a form.

Every referral can stay on the record, whatever the outcome.

1Referral received

Record how your referrals actually reach you.

Sources and reasons are your list, not ours.

2Progression and decisions

Enquiry, pending, open, bereaved, closed.

Each with dates, reasons and documentation.

3The history stays

Declined this year, accepted the next.

Both on the same record, with the history intact.

The days-from-referral counter runs automatically, so how long referrals take is a number rather than an impression.

Intake

Built around how your service actually takes referrals.

Consistency at the core. Flexibility where it matters.

Your sources and your reasons. Self-referral, community care, medical professionals — you configure the lists to match your service, and they feed your KPI reporting straight away.
Assessment against your acceptance criteria. A scored matrix, using configurable assessments so the panel compares every referral on the same measure.

In the module

What our care referral management software covers

Automated Progression

Enquiry, pending, open, bereaved, closed

Sources of Referral

Adapt your referral sources and reasons to feed KPI reporting

Family consent

Recorded with dates and uploaded documentation

Decision Turnaround

Days from referral to decision, counted automatically

Referral assessments

Unlimited questionnaires, configured by you

Panels & Reviews

Decisions recorded with reasons if declined or closed

Draft correspondence

Templated letters, saved against the record

Reportable

Sources, reasons, declines and waiting times

Why it matters

What is a proper referral record worth?

Capacity, equity & mission

You can see who is waiting, and why

A referral declined for lack of capacity or resources and a referral declined because the person does not meet your criteria are two very different numbers. Recording why a referral was declined turns your waiting list into an argument — for staffing, for funding, or for a change to your own criteria.

Income & funding

Evidence for the next conversation

The bookings and referrals reports show a funder exactly what you delivered under their agreement — and how many families you had to turn away for want of capacity.

Reputation

Nobody falls through a gap

Every enquiry is on the record with a status and an owner, so a referrer who calls three weeks later gets an answer rather than an apology.

Compliance & governance

A decision you can defend

Consent, classifications, assessments and the panel decision all sit against the case, with dates and documents.

Enquiry to decision

Four stages, and none of them involves a spreadsheet.

Enquiry recorded

With its source and its reason

Consent and detail

Medical consent, classifications, uploads

Assessment

Scored against your acceptance criteria

Panel decides

Accepted, declined or deferred, with the reason

Decline now and accept a re-referral a year later. Both decisions sit on the same record with the history intact.

Questions services ask about referrals

Can we use our own referral sources and reasons?

Yes, and they matter more than they sound. Sources and reasons are your own lists, and they drive your KPI reporting — so “where do our referrals come from” is answerable without anyone counting by hand at the end of the year.

We don’t use ICD codes. Can we use our own classifications?

Yes. The classification list is replaceable with your own — behavioural classifications, brain-injury levels, whatever your service uses. Changes go through our support desk free of charge, usually within an hour or two, so the list keeps up with how you actually describe people.

What happens to a referral we decline?

It stays on the person's record. The panel’s decision is recorded with the reason it was declined, the case is closed, and is reopened as an enquiry if the person re-referred. Two referrals for the same person are two entries on one record, which keeps the history intact.

Can we score referrals against our acceptance criteria?

Yes. A configurable scored assessment template works as a matrix against your criteria, scoring each referral and totalling automatically, so every referral is assessed on the same measure and a panel compares numbers rather than impressions.

Does it write the letters?

It drafts them. Template-driven letters pull the right details, respect each person’s correspondence preferences and are saved against the record as PDFs, so what was sent to a family or a referrer is still there a year later.

Can we report on how long referrals take?

Yes. The days from referral counter runs automatically, and referrals, panels and reviews all have reports, with anything more specific available through the Report Builder, including how long each stage is taking and how that changes across a year.

Explore other functionality

Care plans Patient notes Assessments Booking diaries Funding & invoicing

See it working with your own service in mind.

Half an hour or an hour, whichever suits. We’ll spend it on the parts that matter to your service.