Preferral

Preferral developed a referral management platform specifically for the healthcare industry, designed to streamline and automate the patient referral process between doctors. The company was officially launched in September 2017 after hiring Jim Aylward as CEO in May of that year. Jon Gautsch is also mentioned as a key figure in the company, assuming the role of Sr. Vice President at AristaMD after the acquisition.

The core of Preferral's business was to replace inefficient, manual processes like phone calls and fax machines that primary care clinics used to coordinate patient referrals. Its platform serves primary care providers and specialists by offering a centralized system to manage, customize, and analyze patient referrals. For primary care offices, this reduces administrative time spent on the phone and eliminates manual workflows. For specialists, the service provided a way to promote their availability, accepted insurance plans, and areas of expertise. The business model focused on improving efficiency and ensuring patients were directed to the appropriate specialist quickly, thereby reducing administrative costs for physicians and getting patients their appointments faster.

The platform's main function was to automate the referral workflow. It allowed referring practices to send a referral and receive confirmation, which was also shared with the patient. Key features included customizable workflows to fit a specific practice's operations, the ability to write workflow results back to a practice's core platform, and data export capabilities. The platform was designed to be an extension of a healthcare practice's existing core systems, offering seamless single sign-on (SSO) to avoid juggling multiple user credentials. In February 2022, Preferral was acquired by AristaMD, a digital health company specializing in eConsult solutions. The acquisition aimed to create a comprehensive, end-to-end referral solution by combining AristaMD's virtual specialist consultations with Preferral's referral management and scheduling capabilities.

Keywords: referral management, healthcare workflow automation, patient scheduling, physician referrals, healthcare administration, specialist coordination, care coordination software, patient appointment scheduling, digital health, medical referral software, healthcare IT, clinical communication, primary care tools, specialist directory, AristaMD, Jon Gautsch, Jim Aylward, healthcare technology, practice management software, patient access solutions