Referrals

Quick links

Increasing access to specialty care was one of the main catalysts for the formation of the Arizona Safety Net.  

Another major initiative of the Safety Net is to increase access to hospital based specialties for patients being taken care of by Safety Net clinics who were recently discharged from a hospital or emergency room who require follow up procedures.

Historically to have an uninsured patient seen by a specialist their PCP would need to call a friend who works in that specialty and ask for a favor.  To stream line this process the Arizona Safety Net Specialty Referral system was created for over 20 specialty services and diagnostic testing they offer.   There is a short referral form that needs to be filled stating the medical necessity, what has been tried and failed and any specific questions for the specialists.  Include all pertinent lab and imaging results.  Incomplete or inappropriate referrals will not be scheduled, refer to ‘info needed per specialist’ prior to sending a referral.   If a referral is sent with an ICD10 code and eval and treat it will not be considered.

An MOU will need to be signed which states that St. Vincent de Paul provides the consult and it is up to the referring primary care clinic to implement the plan.  The referring clinic will be provided an organizational log in in order to view and download the notes, labs and imaging from the St. Vincent de Paul’s electronic medical record, Athena.  All other information needed to navigate the EHR and download the notes are in the ‘Athena Demo’.   

There are services outside available outside of the St. Vincent de Paul specialty clinics like surgeries, counseling, dental, vaccines, etc. Not all places are willing to share this information openly due to fear of being overwhelmed with patients but calling the individual systems and asking if a patient is an established primary care patient are they eligible for [fill in the blank] services.

If the patient needs a well woman exam refer to one of the FQHCs that are contracted through the Well Woman HealthCheck. 

If a patient needs behavioral health both Terros and Valle del Sol are FQHC look a likes and provide discounted sliding scale visits based on income.