Feasibility of an e-Referral system for streamlining referrals to pediatric emergency room of a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India- A preliminary report

Abstract

With development of specialized pediatric critical care units, referral from community, district or other peripheral hospitals has gained greater momentum. Referral is a process in continuum; starting from the referring and ending at the referred hospital. Establishing a one on one communication with peripheral hospitals and healthcare providers over a wide geographical area is not an easy task. This gap can be reduced effectively using technology. An ‘electronic’ referral system can improve the two way communication and ensure completeness of requisite information about every referral. Therefore we studied the feasibility of an e-referral system to streamline the referrals coming to our Pediatric Emergency Unit. An online e-referral system may be a good initiative to connect hospitals and enable 24X7 communications over the patients being referred between them.

Keywords

• electronic
• referral
• communication
• emergency