Managing Referrals

🔒Requires permission: GeneralSurveyCampaigns.Referrals

This guide covers the day-to-day management of caregiver referrals: viewing incoming submissions, reviewing and approving or rejecting referrals, tracking referral progress through the conversion pipeline, and using referral analytics to measure program effectiveness.

Required Permission

Managing referrals requires the GeneralSurveyCampaigns.Referrals permission. This permission grants access to view, review, approve, reject, and track referral submissions. Without this permission, the Referrals section is not visible in the navigation.

Permission Level	Capabilities
GeneralSurveyCampaigns.Referrals (Read)	View referral submissions, view referral analytics.
GeneralSurveyCampaigns.Referrals (Write)	All of the above, plus: approve, reject, and update referral status.

Accessing the Referral Management Screen

Navigate to Referrals in the main sidebar. The referral management screen displays all submissions in a sortable, filterable table.

Viewing Referral Submissions

Referral List Columns

Column	Description
Referral ID	A unique identifier for the referral submission.
Submitted Date	The date and time the referral was submitted.
Referrer Name	The caregiver who submitted the referral. Click to view their caregiver profile.
Candidate Name	The name of the referred healthcare professional.
Candidate Email	The email address provided for the referred candidate.
Specialty	The clinical specialty of the referred candidate.
Status	The current referral status (Submitted, Under Review, Approved, etc.).
Bonus Status	Whether a bonus has been triggered, is eligible, or has been paid.

Filtering Referrals

Use the filter panel at the top of the list to narrow results:

Filter	Options
Status	Submitted, Under Review, Approved, Contacted, Converted, Declined, Duplicate, Bonus Eligible, Bonus Paid.
Date Range	Filter by submission date. Presets: Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, This Month, This Quarter, Custom.
Referrer	Search by the referring caregiver's name or ID.
Candidate	Search by the referred candidate's name or email.
Specialty	Filter by the referred candidate's specialty.
Bonus Status	Filter by bonus eligibility or payment status.

Sorting

Click any column header to sort the referral list. Click again to toggle between ascending and descending order. The default sort is by Submitted Date (most recent first).

Reviewing Referrals

Opening a Referral for Review

1. Click on any referral in the list to open the detail view.
2. The detail view shows all submitted information plus system-generated data.

Referral Detail View

Section	Contents
Submission Details	All fields from the referral form: candidate name, email, phone, specialty, licensure state, experience, relationship, and notes.
Referrer Information	The referrer's name, caregiver ID, contact information, deployment history, and previous referral count.
Duplicate Check	The system automatically searches for existing records matching the candidate's email, phone, or name. Results are displayed here.
Status History	A chronological log of every status change, including who made the change and when.
Notes	Free-text notes added by administrators during the review process.

Duplicate Detection

When you open a referral, the system automatically checks for potential duplicate candidates:

Match Type	Confidence	Action
Exact email match	High	System flags as likely duplicate. Displays the existing caregiver record.
Exact phone match	Medium	System flags for review. May be a duplicate or a shared phone number.
Name similarity	Low	System suggests a possible match. Manual review required.
No match found	--	The candidate appears to be new to the system.

tip

Always review the duplicate check results before approving a referral. Approving a duplicate referral creates confusion in the system and may result in incorrect bonus payments. If a candidate is a duplicate, update the referral status to Duplicate with a note explaining which existing record matches.

Approving or Rejecting Referrals

Approving a Referral

1. Open the referral detail view.
2. Review all submission details, duplicate check results, and referrer information.
3. Verify that the referred candidate's specialty and licensure are relevant to current or upcoming staffing needs.
4. Click Approve.
5. Optionally add a note (e.g., "Strong ICU candidate, high-priority outreach").
6. The referral status changes to Approved.
7. The referrer receives an email notification that their referral has been approved.

Rejecting a Referral

1. Open the referral detail view.
2. Click Decline.
3. Select a decline reason:

Reason	Description
Duplicate Candidate	The candidate already exists in the system.
Incomplete Information	The submission is missing critical information and the referrer has not responded to requests for additional details.
Specialty Not Needed	The candidate's specialty does not match any current or foreseeable staffing need.
Licensure Issue	The candidate's licensure state does not align with event locations.
Other	Provide a custom reason in the notes field.

4. Add a note explaining the decision (required for audit purposes).
5. Click Confirm Decline.
6. The referrer receives a notification that their referral was not approved, with a general reason (specific details are not shared to protect candidate privacy).

note

Declined referrals remain in the system for audit and reporting purposes. They cannot be deleted. If circumstances change (e.g., a new event requires the declined candidate's specialty), a declined referral can be reopened by changing its status back to Under Review.

Tracking Referral Status

Updating Status

As a referral progresses through the pipeline, update its status to reflect the current stage:

1. Open the referral detail view.
2. Click Update Status.
3. Select the new status from the dropdown.
4. Add a note describing the update (e.g., "Left voicemail and sent email. Will follow up in 48 hours.").
5. Click Save.

Status Progression Guide

Current Status	Next Typical Status	Action Required
Submitted	Under Review	Administrator opens the referral and begins review.
Under Review	Approved or Declined	Administrator makes an approval decision.
Approved	Contacted	Staffing team reaches out to the referred candidate.
Contacted	Converted or Declined	Candidate responds and either joins the system or declines.
Converted	Bonus Eligible	Candidate completes the defined milestone (e.g., first deployment).
Bonus Eligible	Bonus Paid	Finance processes the referral bonus payment.

Bulk Status Updates

For managing large volumes of referrals:

1. On the referral list, check the boxes next to multiple referrals.
2. Click Bulk Update in the toolbar.
3. Select the new status to apply to all selected referrals.
4. Add a shared note.
5. Click Apply.

warning

Bulk updates apply the same status and note to all selected referrals. Ensure all selected referrals are at the same stage and the update is appropriate for each one. Bulk updates cannot be undone -- each referral must be individually corrected if an error is made.

Referral Analytics

The referral analytics dashboard provides metrics to evaluate program health and identify opportunities for improvement. Access it at Referrals > Analytics.

Key Metrics

Metric	Description
Total Submissions	Number of referrals submitted during the selected period.
Approval Rate	Percentage of submissions that were approved (vs. declined or duplicated).
Conversion Rate	Percentage of approved referrals where the candidate was successfully converted.
Average Time to Conversion	Mean number of days from submission to conversion.
Active Referrers	Number of unique caregivers who submitted at least one referral during the period.
Top Referrers	Leaderboard of caregivers with the most successful referrals.
Bonuses Paid	Total dollar amount of referral bonuses paid during the period.
Bonuses Pending	Total dollar amount of referral bonuses that are eligible but not yet paid.

Referral Funnel

The funnel visualization shows how referrals progress through each stage:

Stage	Count	Conversion to Next Stage
Submitted	--	--
Approved	--	--% of Submitted
Contacted	--	--% of Approved
Converted	--	--% of Contacted
Bonus Eligible	--	--% of Converted
Bonus Paid	--	--% of Bonus Eligible

Referrals by Specialty

Specialty	Submitted	Converted	Conversion Rate
ICU / Critical Care	--	--	--
Emergency Department	--	--	--
Medical-Surgical	--	--	--
Labor & Delivery	--	--	--
Operating Room	--	--	--
Telemetry	--	--	--

Top Referrers Leaderboard

Rank	Referrer Name	Referrals Submitted	Referrals Converted	Conversion Rate	Total Bonuses Earned
1	--	--	--	--	--
2	--	--	--	--	--
3	--	--	--	--	--

tip

Share the Top Referrers leaderboard with your caregiver community (with permission) to create healthy competition and increase referral program participation. Recognizing top referrers in newsletters or at events reinforces the behavior.

Analytics Filters

Filter	Options
Date Range	Custom, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, This Month, This Quarter, Year to Date.
Specialty	Filter analytics to a specific clinical specialty.
Referrer	View analytics for a specific referring caregiver.
Status	Include only referrals in specific statuses.

Exporting Analytics

All referral analytics can be exported:

1. Configure your desired filters.
2. Click Export in the upper-right corner.
3. Select the format: CSV, PDF, or Excel.
4. The file downloads with the current filter configuration applied.

Referral Notifications

The system sends automated notifications at key points in the referral lifecycle:

Event	Recipient	Notification
Referral submitted	Admin	Email alert: "New referral submitted by <Referrer Name>."
Referral submitted	Referrer	Confirmation email: "Your referral for <Candidate Name> has been received."
Referral approved	Referrer	Email: "Your referral for <Candidate Name> has been approved."
Referral declined	Referrer	Email: "Your referral could not be approved at this time." (General reason provided.)
Candidate converted	Referrer	Email: "<Candidate Name> has joined HCSS Events Platform. Thank you for your referral!"
Bonus eligible	Referrer	Email: "You are eligible for a referral bonus of <Amount>."
Bonus paid	Referrer	Email: "Your referral bonus of <Amount> has been processed."

note

Notification templates can be customized by administrators in Settings > Referral Program > Notifications. Notifications can be enabled or disabled individually.

Role-Based Access Summary

Capability	Admin	Scheduler	Leadership
View referral submissions	Yes	Yes	Yes (read-only)
Review and approve/reject	Yes	No	No
Update referral status	Yes	Yes (Contacted, Converted only)	No
Bulk status updates	Yes	No	No
View referral analytics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Export referral data	Yes	Yes	No
Configure program settings	Yes	No	No

Next Steps

• Referral Program Overview -- Return to the program overview for referral concepts and bonus structure.