Engagement snapshot
- Mandate
- Build a scheduling product around real referral flow, not around the current admin workarounds.
- Timeline
- 17 weeks from intake mapping to production go-live.
- Team shape
- Operations VP, 1 product lead, 3 engineers, and 5 clinic coordinators.
The problem
Intake coordinators bounced between fax, phone, EHR messages, and calendars, which delayed scheduling and led to dropped or stalled referrals.
What we built
Built a referral intake and scheduling platform that normalized referrals, exposed clinic capacity, and coordinated reminders across locations.
Operating context
The group was growing through acquisition, which meant scheduling processes differed by clinic. There was no single system view of referral readiness, clinical capacity, or where referrals were getting stuck.
Key constraints
- The system needed to coexist with the EHR instead of trying to replace it.
- Referral readiness required clinical and insurance prerequisites that varied by service line.
- Frontline coordinators needed less screen switching, not another admin-heavy tool.
What we built
Referral readiness model
Tracked prerequisites, missing items, and clinic-specific scheduling rules before a referral entered open scheduling.
Capacity-aware booking
Surfaced capacity across clinics with location and specialty rules so referrals could move to the right place faster.
Reminder and follow-up engine
Handled patient reminders and missing-item outreach through structured workflows instead of manual task chasing.
Delivery path
Referral flow mapping
Documented how referrals actually moved across clinics and where information loss caused delays.
Pilot clinic launch
Started with one referral-heavy specialty to validate readiness logic and scheduling UX.
Network rollout
Expanded to other clinics with configurable prerequisites and operational reporting.
Why it mattered
Scheduling improved because referrals became visible as operational objects with clear states instead of as inbox items. The product created a shared system view for teams that had previously worked from memory and local habits.
Implementation notes
- Healthcare scheduling gains often come from readiness logic before booking logic.
- Clinic-by-clinic rollout is usually necessary because intake reality differs more than leadership expects.
- Frontline adoption depends on reducing screen switching, not on adding more workflow detail.