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Orthopedic referral intake is a common but often tedious workflow for healthcare clinics. Whether referrals are coming from urgent care, primary care, or other specialties, they frequently arrive as PDFs via email or fax. These documents can vary in format and quality, and they almost always require manual transcription into an EHR like Cerner.
This is where Intellistack Streamline can make a significant impact.
Common Scenario: Manual Intake of Orthopedic Referrals
A typical clinic might receive a steady volume of referrals for orthopedic consults. Each PDF form contains essential information such as patient demographics, medical history, injury details, referring provider information, and insurance data.
Without automation, clinic staff would need to manually extract and enter this information into Cerner (or another EHR) and downstream scheduling systems. This approach is time-consuming, error-prone, and diverts attention from higher-value patient coordination tasks.
How Intellistack Streamline Can Help
With Intellistack Streamline, clinics can fully automate this workflow using a combination of document processing and real-time data integration:
1. Extract Data from Files
With the new capability to extract data from files, the workflow starts with PDFs that are uploaded directly into an intake workflow. Intellistack Streamline then automatically scans and extracts relevant fields using built-in AI. This includes structured data like patient names, dates of birth, provider contact information, and clinical notes.
2. Prefilled Form
Once extracted, the data is mapped to a preconfigured referral form within Intellistack Streamline. These fields are populated automatically, with no need for manual data entry. The referral can then be triaged or routed for additional review as part of the workflow.
3. Write-Back to Cerner
After the referral is reviewed and submitted, the data is written directly back into the Cerner EHR or other EHRs. There is no need to store or migrate data. Because Intellistack Streamline uses a zero data retention model, all data stays within the source systems.
Before Creating the Workflow
- Manual Data Entry: High volume of time-consuming, repetitive data entry tasks.
- Inaccurate Patient Information: Frequent errors or missing details in patient records within Cerner.
- Delayed Referral Processing: Delays in processing referrals and scheduling patient appointments.
Administrative Burden: Staff overwhelmed with administrative workload, increasing the chance of mistakes.
After Implementing the Workflow with Streamline
- Automation Gains: Significant reduction in manual data entry through automated processes.
- Enhanced Data Integrity: More accurate and complete patient information seamlessly entered into the EHR.
- Efficiency Boost: Referrals processed and appointments scheduled much faster.
- Operational Relief: Lower administrative burden and reduced risk of human error.
This approach can streamline orthopedic referral intake while improving the experience for both staff and patients. It also creates a scalable model that can be applied to other specialist referral workflows across the organization.
