Plain Language Description of the eReferral Service

eReferral refers to the automation of one or more activities involved in initiating, negotiating and closing the referral process, usually from a primary care physician to a specialist.

The software used by the eHealth Centre of Excellence is the Ocean eReferral Network, developed by CognisantMD. Ocean is an EMR-integrated, cloud-based technology that allows healthcare providers to search for specialists, view wait times and locations, and create a referral in real time.

The Ocean eReferral platform is used by referring clinicians (“Referrers”) to send patient data (including personal health information) to “Referral Targets”, i.e. specialists or other health service providers to which the Referrer wishes to refer the patient for the further provision of care.

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