Referral Program Overview

AdminScheduler

The Referral Program in HCSS Events Platform enables existing caregivers to refer other qualified healthcare professionals for event staffing opportunities. Referrals are a proven source of high-quality candidates -- referred caregivers tend to have better response rates, higher confirmation rates, and stronger on-site performance compared to cold-sourced candidates.

How the Referral Program Works

The referral workflow follows a straightforward process:

Caregiver Submits Referral --> Admin Reviews --> Referred Candidate Added to System --> Candidate Staffed to Event --> Referral Bonus Eligible

Key Concepts

Concept	Description
Referrer	An existing caregiver in the the platform system who submits a referral.
Referred Candidate	The healthcare professional being referred. They may or may not already exist in the system.
Referral Submission	The form submitted by the referrer, containing the candidate's contact information, specialty, and relationship to the referrer.
Referral Status	The current state of the referral in the review and conversion pipeline.
Conversion	When a referred candidate is successfully added to the system and deployed to an event.
Referral Bonus	A financial incentive paid to the referrer when the referred candidate meets defined milestones (e.g., completes a deployment).

Referral Submission

Caregivers submit referrals through the caregiver self-service portal. The referral form collects:

Field	Required	Description
Candidate First Name	Yes	The referred person's first name.
Candidate Last Name	Yes	The referred person's last name.
Candidate Email	Yes	The referred person's email address.
Candidate Phone	Yes	The referred person's phone number.
Specialty	Yes	The clinical specialty of the referred candidate (e.g., ICU, ED, Med-Surg).
Licensure State	Yes	The state(s) where the candidate holds an active license.
Years of Experience	No	The candidate's years of clinical experience.
Relationship	No	How the referrer knows the candidate (colleague, classmate, friend, etc.).
Notes	No	Any additional information the referrer wants to share about the candidate.

tip

Encourage caregivers to provide as much detail as possible when submitting referrals. Complete submissions significantly reduce the time needed for administrative review and outreach to the referred candidate.

Referral Statuses

Each referral moves through a defined lifecycle:

Status	Description
Submitted	The referral has been submitted by the caregiver and is awaiting administrative review.
Under Review	An administrator is reviewing the referral for completeness and potential fit.
Approved	The referral has been approved. Outreach to the referred candidate will begin.
Contacted	The referred candidate has been contacted by the staffing team.
Converted	The referred candidate has been added to the the platform system and/or assigned to an event.
Declined	The referred candidate declined the opportunity or was deemed not suitable.
Duplicate	The referred candidate already exists in the system (submitted by this referrer or another).
Bonus Eligible	The referral has met all criteria for a referral bonus payout to the referrer.
Bonus Paid	The referral bonus has been processed and paid to the referrer.

Status Flow

Submitted --> Under Review --> Approved --> Contacted --> Converted --> Bonus Eligible --> Bonus Paid
                          \                          \
                           --> Declined                --> Declined
                           --> Duplicate

Referral Sources and Tracking

The system tracks where each referral originated and maintains a complete audit trail:

Tracking Field	Description
Source	How the referral was submitted: self-service portal, email to admin, phone call, event on-site.
Referrer ID	The the platform caregiver ID of the person who made the referral.
Submission Date	When the referral was submitted.
Review Date	When an administrator first reviewed the referral.
Conversion Date	When the referred candidate was added to the system or assigned to an event.
Bonus Trigger Date	When the milestone was met that triggers the referral bonus.

Conversion Rates

Referral conversion rate is a key program health metric. The system tracks conversions at multiple stages:

Stage	Calculation	Benchmark
Submission to Approval	Approved / Submitted	75-85%
Approval to Contact	Contacted / Approved	90-95%
Contact to Conversion	Converted / Contacted	40-60%
Overall Conversion	Converted / Submitted	30-50%

info

Conversion rates vary by specialty and region. High-demand specialties (ICU, ED) tend to have higher conversion rates because candidates are more likely to accept opportunities. Track conversion rates by specialty to identify where referral outreach is most effective.

Referral Bonuses

The referral bonus program incentivizes caregivers to refer qualified candidates. Bonuses are structured around milestones:

Bonus Structure

Milestone	Bonus Amount	When Paid
Candidate Converted	Configurable (e.g., $250)	When the referred candidate is added to the system and assigned to their first event.
First Deployment Completed	Configurable (e.g., $500)	When the referred candidate successfully completes their first event deployment.
Retention Bonus	Configurable (e.g., $250)	When the referred candidate completes their third event deployment.

note

Bonus amounts and milestone definitions are configured by system administrators in Settings > Referral Program. The values shown above are examples. Your organization's bonus structure may differ.

Bonus Eligibility Rules

Rule	Description
Active Referrer	The referrer must be an active caregiver in the platform at the time the bonus is triggered.
No Self-Referral	Caregivers cannot refer themselves or create circular referral chains.
First Referrer Wins	If the same candidate is referred by multiple caregivers, the first submission receives the bonus.
No Duplicate Candidates	Referrals for candidates already in the system are marked as Duplicate and are not bonus-eligible.
Minimum Deployment Duration	For deployment-based milestones, the referred candidate must complete the minimum deployment duration (configurable, default: 5 shifts).

Program Configuration

Admin

Administrators configure the referral program in Settings > Referral Program:

Setting	Description
Program Enabled	Toggle the referral program on or off. When off, the referral form is hidden from the caregiver portal.
Bonus Amounts	Set the dollar amount for each milestone tier.
Bonus Milestones	Define which milestones trigger bonus eligibility.
Auto-Approve	When enabled, referrals from caregivers with a high trust score are automatically approved without manual review.
Duplicate Detection	Configure how aggressively the system checks for duplicate candidates (by email, phone, name match).
Notification Settings	Configure which email notifications are sent to referrers (submission confirmation, status updates, bonus notification).

Role-Based Access

Capability	Admin	Scheduler	Leadership
View referral submissions	Yes	Yes	Yes (read-only)
Review and approve referrals	Yes	No	No
Contact referred candidates	Yes	Yes	No
Configure bonus structure	Yes	No	No
View referral analytics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manage program settings	Yes	No	No

Next Steps

• Managing Referrals -- Detailed guide to reviewing, approving, and tracking referral submissions.