> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.phbhealth.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Referrals and finding care

> How a clinician writes a referral, what a referral does and does not allow, and how patients find the right doctor.

## Referrals

Open **Referrals** (`/clinical/referrals`). You need the role `clinician`.

You write and sign a referral yourself. PHB records and routes it. It never decides it.

| Field | What to enter |
| - | - |
| **Patient HPN** | The patient's `PHB-0000-0000-0000`. |
| Specialty | Who you are referring to. |
| **Urgency** | **Routine**, **Urgent** or **Same day**. Emergencies are not referred here. Use the emergency route. |
| Reason | In plain language. The patient sees it. |
| Clinical note | Optional. For the specialist. You choose whether the patient sees it. |

Click **Sign & send referral**. The patient is told, and gets a reference such as `REF-XXXX-XXXX`. They choose the specialist and book, with the list already filtered to your specialty.

You can only refer a patient you have a booked consult with, or active consent from. Otherwise you see an error saying so.

<Warning>
  A referral does not give the specialist access to the record. The specialist still needs the patient's consent. The patient sees a prompt about this when they open the referral.
</Warning>

### Status

The list **Referrals you've written** shows where each one stands.

| Status | Meaning |
| - | - |
| New | Sent. The patient has not opened it. |
| Viewed | The patient has opened it. |
| Booked | The patient booked an appointment from it. |
| Declined | The patient declined it. |
| Expired | Not acted on in time (the time depends on the urgency). |

The receiving side for specialists is Not built. There is no screen where a specialist accepts or completes a referral.

### Routine recalls

On the same page you can set a **routine recall**: a reminder for the patient to come back in some weeks or months. Reasons are generic (for example annual check-up). The patient books, snoozes or dismisses it.

## How patients find care

Patients open **Care** (`/care`) and pick what they need in plain language, such as a general doctor or a specialty. This narrows the list to doctors who treat that need. They can then narrow by language, availability and price.

Search starts with who can treat the patient. It does not ask about symptoms and it does not recommend a doctor. A **routing questionnaire** is not built. See [Book care](/guides/patient/book-care).


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