eReferral from the Perspectives of Primary Care and Specialist

This session will explore how eReferral Ontario and Central Intake are improving the referral experience for primary care clinicians, specialists, and patients. Presenters will highlight how digital referral workflows reduce administrative burden, improve the clarity and completeness of referral information, and offer real‑time visibility into referral status. The session will also share updates on the continued expansion of eReferral across Ontario and its impact on care coordination.

Learning objectives 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Identify common points of referral breakdown. This includes unreliable transmission, incomplete information, unclear destination details, and challenging follow‑up communication and how eReferral helps address these issues.
• Understand how eReferral Ontario workflow supports sending, receiving, tracking, and communicating referrals to reduce administrative burden. Participants will also understand how eReferral can be used as a stand‑alone tool or integrated directly within an EMR.
• Understand how Standardized Referral Forms have been co‑designed with clinicians to ensure patients are directed to the appropriate destination with the appropriate information.
• Discuss how Central Intake supports referral routing to help patients access the right care in the right place, in a timely way..

Presented by:

• David Urbach, MD MSc, Head, Department of Surgery and Strategic Lead, Ambulatory Innovation, Women’s College Hospital, Professor of Surgery and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Provincial Clinical Lead, Central Intake, Ontario Health
• Stephen Pomedli, Family Physician and Provincial Clinical Lead, eReferral, Ontario Health

Presenter Bios:

David Urbach, MD MSc

David Urbach is Head of the Department of Surgery and Director of Perioperative Services at Women’s College Hospital, and Professor of Surgery and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at The University of Toronto. In addition to being a practicing general surgeon, he is a Senior Fellow at the Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), and Senior Scientist at the Women’s College Hospital Research Institute and ICES. Through his leadership, the Department of Surgery at Women’s College Hospital has become recognized for surgical service innovations such as same-day discharge for total joint replacement and other major surgery, virtual post-operative monitoring, and single-entry referral models for surgical services. In his role at Ontario Health, David provides leadership and guidance for the implementation of central intake to improve access and reduce wait times for health services. His research focuses on surgery-related health services and is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). David is especially interested in improving health policy related to surgical services in Canada, particularly access to care and the sustainability and cost of surgery in Canadian hospitals. He has written over 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including in top journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association, and has lectured around the world.

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Stephen Pomedli, Family Physician and Provincial Clinical Lead, eReferral, Ontario Health

Dr Steve Pomedli is a family doctor in Toronto and the Provincial Clinical Lead for eReferral at Ontario Health. His previous roles include Digital Navigation Physician Lead for the East Toronto Family Practice Network, Health Innovation Fellow at WIHV (Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care), and as a consultant for health systems and digital health companies.

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