Dive Brief:
- Mount Sinai Health System is in the process of building a new patient referral system.
- The health system is working with par80, a software company in Boston, to create the new system. It will be designed to match patients to the right resource at the appropriate time.
- With seven hospitals, a medical school and an extensive ambulatory care network, hundreds of thousands of patients are referred within the Mount Sinai health system each year.
Dive Insight:
According to Mount Sinai officials, effective referrals are an important part of patient care, particularly for patients with chronic illnesses. "Major healthcare systems must care for patients in referral networks that shift people smoothly back and forth between well and sick care, and that track their progress at all times," Jeremy Boal, MD, chief medical officer at Mount Sinai Health System, said in a statement. "Effective referrals are a foundation of ensuring high quality care across patient populations, and this new operating system will confirm that every referred patient is seen, and seen quickly."
More practically, a smooth referral system also provides an easy pathway for patients to stay within the Mount Sinai network.