Section 7

What happens when developmental screening determines that a child needs addi 

Tracking

tional services and follow up?  Who is tracking if a child is referred to an appropri 

ate early intervention program?  Was the appointment made?  Did the member go

Referrals

to the appointment?  Did the child receive necessary services?  A few of the work 

group participants sought to evaluate and improve referral practices at their health

plans.

CommunityCARE

When a child requires a referral, providers in Louisiana must document in the med 

ical record that the child keeps the appointment and receives the services.

CommunityCARE implemented use of a standardized referral tracking form

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to

facilitate monitoring of referral rates. Previously, there was no formal way of track 

ing referrals.  Now, when a provider makes a referral, she or he uses the form to

indicate the date of the referral, where the referral was made, and the reason for the

referral.  When the member makes the appointment and receives services is also

noted in the form.  The form allows for time efficient internal provider office track 

ing and also monitors compliance of follow up child development services for chil 

dren identified at risk for developmental delay.  Each month CommunityCARE

collects these referral data from participating providers to ensure that necessary

referrals are made.  By creating a much needed system of tracking referrals,

CommunityCARE's referral rate grew from one to four percent over one year at one

high volume urban pilot provider site (Figure 7).

Figure 7: CommunityCARE Referral Rates at Pilot Site in 2003

5%

dene 4%

cre

rs Seb

3%

me

/Md

rre

2%

fee

rs Re

1%

bmeM 0%

1st Qtr.

2nd Qtr.

3rd Qtr.

4th Qtr.

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CommunityCARE's referral tracking form is available in the online toolkit at www.chcs.org.

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