How Refera works

Who this page is for: practice owners, managers and reception teams.

Refera sits between the referral inbox and the booking system your practice already uses. It gives the team one shared list without replacing either system.

Important: Refera keeps referrals in the order they arrived. It does not triage patients or rank urgency. Any clinical wording shown comes from the original referral.

How it works

1. Connect your referral inbox

Choose the Microsoft 365 inbox reception already checks. Your Microsoft 365 admin approves read-only access. If that is not you, copy the secure link for IT.

Refera then checks that it can read the chosen inbox, cannot read another inbox and can receive a test email with no patient information. New referrals stay off until every check passes. Cancelling or closing Microsoft setup connects nothing.

Details for IT

Ongoing access uses a mailbox-scoped Application Mail.Read grant for the chosen inbox only. The short Microsoft admin approval does not give Refera an administrator password or ongoing admin access.

Connect Microsoft 365

2. See new referrals in order

Each new referral joins one shared list at the time it arrives. The oldest stays first. Refera shows the source, arrival time and the admin details available from the referral.

The team can add who is handling it, a follow-up date and a note without moving it ahead of another referral. Refera keeps a dated history showing who changed what.

Read about arrival order and quoted wording

3. Do the next job

Staff can take a referral, record a call result, note missing information and prepare a reply draft. A staff member checks every outward action. Refera never contacts a patient by itself.

Today shows what needs doing. Inbox shows every referral. Worklists gives reception simple views of the same list without changing the order.

Work through the referral list

4. Record the booking

Staff make or update the appointment in the practice’s existing booking system. They then record the result in Refera so the next person can see that the job is finished.

Refera does not write into the booking system and does not become the clinical record.

See how Refera works with your booking system

What you get

• One Refera account for the practice and a separate sign-in for each staff member.
• Today, Inbox and Worklists for referral admin.
• Microsoft 365 and fax-to-email setup when those paths are available for the practice.
• A clear record of who took each referral, what happened and what was finished.
• A download of the practice’s Refera records.
• Optional, count-only alerts for new referrals on devices you choose.

Some features depend on setup and service availability. Check what is available now.

What Refera does not do

• It does not score, rank or make clinical decisions.
• It does not interpret pathology, imaging or clinical attachments.
• It does not contact patients or send drafts automatically.
• It does not replace the practice’s booking system.
• HealthLink needs separate partner setup. Direct upload and Medical-Objects are not available today.

Read the full product limits

Start here

1. Create your Refera account.
2. Invite the reception team.
3. Connect Microsoft 365 or ask Refera about fax-to-email.
4. Run one test email with no patient information before real referrals are turned on.

The first 50 referrals are free for each practice. No card is needed. The free allowance never starts a subscription or charge.