Referral Intake and Patient Acceptance to Service

In short

• Log every referral at once with the exact date and time it came in.
• Collect the patient details, practitioner, orders, payer, home situation, and language needs. Missing information does not stop the clock.
• Only the supervising nurse, the alternate, or a clinical manager may accept a patient. Intake and marketing staff never accept or promise a start date.
• We accept a patient only if we can meet their needs with the staff and skills we have, in our service area, on time.
• If we cannot accept, tell the referral source and the patient the same day and suggest other agencies.