Question: Is entering a Referral order appropriate to send my patient to physiotherapy or another allied health provider?
Context: If a provider does not require closed loop referral management (i.e., confirmation that the patient was seen by the specified allied health provider and the outcome of that appointment), this is considered to be a Recommendation rather than a Referral. If a Referral is instead placed in such a situation, the provincial standard agreed upon is to confirm with the ordering provider that the Referral was intended to be a Recommendation rather than a Referral order. A comment can then be added in the Communication section summarizing the discussion, and the referral can then be closed with the "non-clinical flag".
Answer: If a provider does not require closed loop referral management, a Referral order should not be entered. Instead, a Recommendation can be made via a Communication letter, or, if a prescription is required by insurance, it can also be made via a Patient Care Order. See the tip sheet for further details and screenshots.