Care requests

A care request is the authority for a piece of remote care: a teleconsultation, a specialist review, a series of follow-up sessions. The Care Coordinator records it with a record number, a subject, the patient reference and consent reference from your clinical system, the date requested, the number of units requested, and the provider organization that will deliver it. The coordinator owns the request and answers for its paperwork.

Before anything clinical happens, the coordinator verifies who the patient is, which provider will deliver the care and that consent is on file. The request then goes to review. Coordinators prepare and route requests; they never make the clinical decision. The request moves through Requested, Review, Authorized, Scheduled and Attested, or ends as Declined or Cancelled. Every change raises its revision.

• Intake with references. Patient and consent references point to your clinical system, so personal health information stays where it is held.
• Verify before review. Identity and consent are checked before the request reaches a clinical reviewer.
• One owner, one revision. The coordinator owns the request. A change after authorization creates a new revision that needs a new decision.

Agree the format of patient and consent references from your clinical system. Agree what counts as a unit: one consult, one 30-minute session or one episode of care. Agree how identity is verified and what the coordinator records as proof. Decide which supporting documents are attached as Internal and which may be Shared with the provider. Agree how quickly new requests must reach review.

A primary care clinic asks for a dermatology teleconsult for a patient with a persistent rash. The coordinator records the request: subject “Dermatology teleconsult”, the clinic’s patient reference, the signed telehealth consent reference, two units requested and the partner dermatology group as provider. She attaches the referral letter as Shared and the clinic’s internal notes as Internal, checks the patient’s identity against the referral and moves the request to Review.

The reviewer returns it: the consent covers one consult, not two. The coordinator obtains an updated consent reference, which raises the revision, and sends it back. The reviewer authorizes it, and the coordinator schedules the first session with the dermatology group.

• Lifecycle Board — Open requests grouped by Requested, Review, Authorized and Scheduled, with provider, owner and revision.
• My Care Requests — The signed-in coordinator’s own requests and where each one stands.
• Request Register — Every request with patient reference, units, authorization and attestation dates.

• Request to clinical authorization: Verify the request and take it through clinical review.
• Correction and cancellation: Cancel or correct a request with its history kept.

Review the data model before importing open requests.