Referral form
Ontario OHIP specialist referral
An Ontario specialist referral is how you ask another physician (or a nurse practitioner in a consult role) to see a patient for an OHIP-insured opinion or procedure. Hospitals, eReferral networks, and specialty clinics each print a PDF. There is no single provincial “OHIP referral form.” The consult still needs a reason, enough history to triage, and your identifiers. “Please see, thanks” is how the request sits in a pile.
What the receiving office is triaging on
They need who you are, who the patient is, the question you want answered, and how soon. Cardiology “assess chest pain” without onset, effort, ECG, or troponin is not a question. Dermatology “rash” without duration, distribution, or what you already tried is not a question.
Use the destination’s current form or Ocean/eReferral pathway so booking has the right fax and the right mandatory fields. A pad from another hospital will land in the wrong queue.
Urgency has to match the chart
Marking every referral “urgent” does not move the queue. If it is urgent, write the red flag. If it is elective, say elective. The specialist will read your last two notes.
Who completes it
The referring clinician who assessed the problem — physician or nurse practitioner with an OHIP billing number when the consult is insured that way. Do not send a referral from a chart you have not opened. Allied health can request a physician-to-physician referral through you; they should not impersonate your signature.
How to complete the referral
- Patient identifiers, OHIP number, contact phone that actually rings.
- Your name, billing number, and a callback that a clerk can use.
- Specialty and the specific question (“Is this surgical IBD?” not “GI please”).
- Relevant history, medications, allergies, and what you already did (labs, imaging, trials).
- Urgency with a reason.
- Copies of key reports attached or stated as “in ConnectingOntario / HRM” if that is true.
- If the patient needs an interpreter or cannot attend without a caregiver, say so on the form, not only in the chart.
If you want a procedure (colonoscopy, sleep study, imaging), use that service’s requisition when they have one. A generic “refer to GI” when you actually want a FIT-positive colonoscopy is how the patient gets a consult slot instead of a procedure slot — or the reverse.
Worked example (fictional)
OHIP referral — general internal medicine, unexplained weight loss
Fictional 67-year-old. Do not copy into a real referral.
Question for GIM: unexplained 8 kg loss in 4 months, night sweats, normal CXR; please advise workup vs malignancy pathway. History: no overt GI bleeding, no new meds, Hb 108 (was 132 in 2025), ferritin 12, TSH normal, A1c 6.1. Not on anticoagulation. Tried: dietary review, stool for occult blood pending, no CT yet. Urgency: semi-urgent — not febrile now, not acute abdomen. Patient can be reached at the number on the form. Not a lab req. Not an imaging req. I am the FP; OHIP billing number on the form.
Why referrals bounce or sit
- No question, or the wrong specialty.
- Missing OHIP number or an expired card.
- Urgent tick with a three-year-old problem and no red flag.
- No phone number, so the office cannot offer a cancellation slot.
- Asking for a procedure on a consult form when that service uses a separate requisition.
Draft the specialist referral from the visit
In Scribeberry, open Forms, search for OHIP referral or specialist referral, or upload the clinic’s current PDF. Generate from the encounter and your notes, then review every field before you send. Scribeberry does not pre-map this form. You still review and sign. Scribeberry does not book the specialist.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one official OHIP referral form?
No. OHIP insures the consult. The paper or eReferral is the destination’s. Upload the PDF or pathway they use.
Can I refer without seeing the patient?
A referral should follow an assessment you can defend. Do not sign a blank for a walk-in you never met.
What if I need imaging and a specialist?
Complete both: the imaging requisition and the consult. One does not replace the other unless the specialist’s office has told you they will protocol imaging themselves.
Does Scribeberry send the referral?
No. Scribeberry helps you complete the PDF. You or the clinic send it through the usual channel. Keep a copy in the chart.
Forms
