Your first week

Who this page is for: the practice manager who wants the shortest path from signup to a working referral inbox.

To begin setup, have the practice ABN, your work email and the name of the inbox that receives referrals. That is enough to create the workspace and start the connection. Refera keeps new-referral capture off while it verifies the connection in the background.

The four steps

1. Create the workspace. Enter the practice details, add yourself as the first Owner, review and sign the agreement, then confirm your work email.
2. Choose where referrals arrive. Select Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or another provider and enter the existing referral inbox. It can be shared or individual.
3. Connect the inbox. For Microsoft 365, an administrator completes one short sign-in. Refera then verifies the inbox restriction and sends its own connection email containing no patient information. For another provider, choose Let Refera configure this.
4. Invite your team (optional). Give each receptionist their own account, or skip this for a solo practice and return later.

That is the customer journey. Refera handles the remaining service checks, keeps the technical detail under Settings > Connections for IT and emails the practice owner when new referrals are ready.

What Refera does for you

• keeps old email out and starts from the agreed activation time;
• confirms that Microsoft access is read-only and limited to the chosen inbox;
• shows progress in Settings > Connections;
• keeps new referral email off until the connection is ready; and
• keeps appointment booking in the practice system you already use.

If the Microsoft sign-in closes or expires, return to Settings > Connections and choose I can approve Microsoft 365 access to continue yourself, or Another administrator will approve to copy the secure link for your IT provider. Choose Finish later to keep the inbox and approver choice without requesting Microsoft access; new referrals stay off. No approval email is sent to the referral inbox.

A front-desk scanner can send PDFs through the verified inbox. Separate upload and QR channels are not available yet. Practices using HealthLink or porting an existing fax number should start those arrangements early because the external provider may need several business days. See HealthLink and Fax to email.

Every person who works the queue signs in separately, while the referral inbox stays shared. See Team accounts and roles.

Learn one workflow at a time

Once the inbox is ready, start with the daily worklist. The rest can wait until the team has used Refera for a few days.

• Learn the daily referral worklist - see what arrived, who owns the next step and what still needs attention.
• Set up Cancellation Fill - help reception fill an opening from a staff-approved list.
• Read your referral insights - understand volume, source and progress without exposing referral content.

For technical detail, use Preparing to go live or give the IT checklist to your IT provider. Refera coordinates those checks rather than leaving reception to interpret them.