Referring a Case to an Outside Organization
Records of referrals to outside organizations can be recorded for each matter.
There are two ways to record a referral: one quick and one detailed. Site administrators determine which method is used and where you can do this.
In this Article:
- Quick Organization Referral
- Detailed Referrals
- Capacity Tracking: Limiting the Number of Referrals to an Outside Organization
Quick Organization Referral
This option displays a search and select box on a form. Depending on the configuration, one or more organizations can be selected and referral record(s) are created.
You must know at least part of an organization's name to record a referral. Compare the detailed method below, which uses a filtered list.
The referral date is automatically set to the current date. There is no option to change the referral date, record a referral type, or add notes about the referral.
Site administrators: See the Quick Organization Referral block.
Detailed Referrals
Case profiles typically have an Actions menu link called Refer to Outside Organization that makes a record of having given a client a referral. There may be other places where site administrators provide links to record a referral.
Recording referrals is for information and reporting purposes. It does not send information to another organization (unless the site is using the electronic case transfer feature to send the case to another organization using LegalServer).
The Referrals page shows any existing referrals on the case and organizations that may be appropriate to refer the client to.
The filters on the search list use the information from the case (Legal Problem Code, County, etc.) to narrow the selection of organizations. You can change the default filters to expand the list of organizations.
Only organizations that have been added to LegalServer on the top level Organizations tab and have the type "Referral Organization" will be listed.
To view more information about an organization, right click on the organization's name and view it in another tab or window.
Record a referral by clicking the Refer Here button next to the name.
Referral Type is a list controlled by each site (Admin > Lookups > Org Referral Type). But each organization must be edited to select from among those types (Actions menu > Edit Primary Referral Criteria). In the example above, ABC Referrals does not have any referral types selected in its organization record.
Client Consent to Transfer is a simple information field unless your site is setup for electronic case transfers. If it is, and you are referring the client to an organization that accepts e-transfers, selecting Yes will expand the form and display several additional fields.
Not shown above is a potential Referral email field. If your site has one or more Email Templates, they will be shown in a selector for this field.
After entering information about the referral, click Continue to save it.
Closed Cases
Closed cases do not, by default, display the "Refer to Outside Organization" link. There are two ways to do that.
1) Add the legacy "Closing Options" element to the Actions menu on cases (if not already there), and in the configuration check the "Show Referral Org Link". That link will appear in an Options category on closed cases, and the link label is "Search for referral organization".
2) Replace (or supplement) the static process and form with a dynamic process and form.
Capacity Tracking: Limiting the Number of Referrals to an Outside Organization
You can set limits (or warnings) on the number of referrals you can make to an outside organization during defined time periods. This is done on the organization record. If you want to limit the number of referrals to ABC Legal, you edit that organization record on your site. You will need to create an auxiliary process and form. Put the Organization Capacity Tracking Options Block on your form:
Note: A rolling count is calculated from the moment that a referral is attempted and will work backward to count how many referrals have occurred. A non-rolling count starts from the start date and builds a list of periods that are checked for referrals. A preview of those periods is displayed if a non-rolling count is specified.
Once a referral limit is set on an organization, the system will track and record the number of referrals for the duration/type. This is displayed on the Refer to an Outside Organization form as well as the Outside Org Referral Listview:
It will also show on the Refer Here form:
Once the capacity is met, if you have the Action set to warn, the organization will still appear as a referral option, but the capacity tracking will turn red:
And once you click Refer Here, you will see the following:
Clicking yes will allow you to continue to transfer it. However, there is currently no information tracked as to who/when the referral count was exceeded.
If the action is set to Filter from results, the "Refer Here" link for the organization will be disabled.
Capacity Tracking Limitations
- If you are using the Quick Organization Referral Block, the block does not consider any capacity tracking limits.
- The tracking count only tracks what has been referred. Once referred, anything that happens is not accounted for, including if the referral is deleted or declined.
- Capacity Tracking Information is not on the "List Search E Transfer Organizations" list view.
- This feature is not intended to work with automated referrals such as referrals through an online intake.