Referrals: Glossary of terms
Plain-language definitions of the key terms used across Lookout's Referrals - from referral invitations and recipients to the five referral steps.
Referrals use a number of terms that have a specific meaning in Lookout. This glossary brings them together in one place so you can quickly check anything you're unsure about while following the other articles - whether you're sending a referral, accepting one, or working through the steps from acceptance to outcomes.
A note on naming: In Lookout, this feature is simply called Referrals - not "clinical referrals." You may have used the term "clinical referral" in the past, and you'll still see some clinically-worded fields within a referral (such as Clinical contact), but the feature itself, and the way we refer to it, is Referrals. This glossary uses Lookout's own terms throughout.
Referral
The Lookout record used to hand a Member's care over to another provider (or to accept one coming in), so a service can be picked up and delivered. A referral moves through a set series of steps from acceptance to outcomes.
Referral Invitation
The invitation sent to a recipient inviting them to take on a referral for a Member. It's how a referral is offered to the receiving party before they accept.
Recipient
The person the referral invitation is sent to, identified by their name and email. They're the party being asked to take on the Member's service.
Referrer
The party making the referral - the provider or contact handing the Member's care across. (Where a referral comes into your organisation, the referrer is the party sending it to you.)
Member
The person the referral is about - the individual whose care or service is being referred.
Reason for referral
The explanation of why the referral is being made - the context the receiving party needs to decide whether to accept and how to proceed.
Service
The specific type of support being referred (for example, the service named in the referral invitation email). A referral is always tied to the service that needs to be delivered.
Clinical contact
A contact recorded on the referral for clinical matters relating to the Member. Note this is a field within a referral, not a separate feature - the referral itself is still just a referral.
Scheduling contact
The contact recorded on the referral for arranging and scheduling the service.
Clinician
The label Lookout uses for the person associated with a referral invitation who will be delivering or overseeing the referred service.
Budget
The funding or budget information attached to the referral, used when the service moves into billing.
The referral steps
Lookout takes a referral through five steps:
Step 1: Acceptance
The receiving party accepts (or declines) the referral. Accepting moves the referral forward; this is where the handover is formally taken on.
Step 2: Contact
Making contact with the Member (and relevant contacts) to begin arranging the service.
Step 3: Schedule service
Setting up the service to be delivered - turning an accepted referral into scheduled care.
Step 4: Billing
Handling the funding and billing side of the referred service, drawing on the budget recorded on the referral.
Step 5: Outcomes
Recording the outcome of the referral - what resulted from the service being delivered.
Related terms
Ticket
Referrals are tracked as tickets in Lookout, so a referral has an associated ticket record your team can work from and manage.
Referral ticket template
The template that defines how referral tickets are created and structured for your organisation. Referrals rely on this template being in place to work correctly.
Acceptance email
The email sent when a referral is accepted, confirming that the receiving party is taking on the service for the Member.
Addendum template / Reply-to email
Configurable parts of the referral invitation email - an addendum is extra standard wording added to the invitation, and the reply-to email sets where responses are directed.