A referral is an action carried out by health professionals to connect their clients with the resources or services that are necessary to meet their needs.
In Sociants, an organization can make a referral within its own programs (internal referral) or to another Community Provider (external referral). The coordination of referrals involves effective collaboration between Community Providers, who work together to meet the social needs of individuals.
Consider, for example, a Community Provider that provides psychological services to a person that is at risk of losing their home. The case manager can use Sociants to refer their need to a Community Provider who specializes in offering housing services.
This way, both Community Providers collaborate to meet the person’s two most pressing social needs: Mental Health and Housing.