About Referral Pad
How the Frustrations of an Orthopaedic Surgeon Led to a New Service for Practices
Ira Kirschenbaum, an orthopaedic surgeon in New York, had a very busy schedule. His appointment slots were consistently booked up. However, he noticed that some of his key referring physicians weren’t sending him as many patients as they used to.
So, he followed up with those physicians, and many of them said that they had difficulty getting appointments for their patients at Dr. Kirschenbaum’s office. His schedule was constantly full.
This was a problem for Dr. Kirschenbaum because he wanted to be able to take care of these referred patients. He would, of course, take care of any patient who came to him seeking orthopaedic care. However, the patients referred to Dr. Kirschenbaum by primary care practitioners were the patients best suited to his particular orthopaedic specialties. He had to find a way to ensure that these patients could get an appointment.
Thus, the concept for Referral Pad was born.
Dr. Kirschenbaum developed Referral Pad to allow referring physicians to schedule appointments with specialists before their patients leave the office. The referring physician’s practice would not need to get on the phone with the specialist’s office or connect with the practice’s EHR—they could instantly book an appointment at the specialist’s soonest availability.
Referral Pad allows specialists like Dr. Kirschenbaum to ensure that they can take care of referred patients. With Referral Pad, specialists will get more of the right patients, pathologies, and procedures for their practices. Primary care physicians referring through Referral Pad also benefit from the system because they can ensure that their patients are taken care of by a trusted specialist.
Ultimately, the patient benefits the most because they get the care they need when they need it.