What languages are included in eReferral/eConsult email notifications?

Patient Notification Emails

  • If the patient’s email address and consent to receive eReferral notifications via email was provided at the time the eReferral/eConsult was sent, the patient will receive email notifications when status updates are made to the request.
  • Patient email notifications contain both English and French versions of the status update message.

Provider Notification Emails

Automatic provider email notifications contain only an English version of the status update message at this time.


Can I filter my Ocean Site's sent referrals by Referring Clinician?

Yes, you're able to filter and save your own view in the eReferrals & eConsults area of the Ocean Portal to show referrals sent only by a specific Referring Clinician(s).

This is valuable for Ocean Sites that have a large number of clinicians that send referrals, as it offers the ability for users to focus their view to only referrals that are relevant to them, and minimizes the amount of patient health information shown to users within the Ocean Site.

How do I use the filter?

The Referring Clinician filter is available within all 'Sent' status folders. Once the filter is saved, it applies across all 'Sent' folders. This is a user-specific filter, meaning it applies only to your own Ocean user account.

Applying the Filter for the First Time

  • If you've never applied the filter before, you can select the Referring Clinicians that are relevant to you by using the dropdown menu, and then clicking the '(save as default)' button to save it as your default filter.
  • This means that each time you access the eReferrals & eConsults page, your view will always be filtered using this selection. This includes if you switch computers, browsers, or your browser cache is cleared.

Note: Users with the Clinician Type of 'MOA/Secretary' or 'Executive Director' are not included in the 'Referring Clinician' dropdown menu.

View with the Filter Applied

  • Once you have applied the filter, all your 'Sent' status folders are filtered to only show referrals sent by your chosen Referring Clinician(s).
  • This is indicated by the term '(displaying default)' beside the filter, and is reflected within the 'Clinician' column.

Modifying the Filter

  • To modify your filtered view, simply update your desired Referring Clinicians using the dropdown menu, and then press '(save new default*)'.
  • Your view will now be filtered using your new Referring Clinician selections each time you access the eReferrals & eConsults page.

No matching referrals?

  • If there are no referrals that match the filters you have applied, you can temporarily clear the filters by pressing 'Try the search again with no filter constraints'.
  • This temporarily modifies your filters to show all sent referrals, giving you the opportunity to adjust your filters as needed, and then click '(save new default*)' to save.

Where do I find a Referral Reference value?

You can easily find a specific Referral Reference (referralRef) value within the relevant referral's Event Log.

This value is a unique reference number for the referral in Ocean, which can be helpful for troubleshooting and/or or tracking purposes.

  • Locate and open the relevant referral in the eReferrals & eConsults area of the Ocean Portal.
  • Open the 'Action' menu in the top right corner, and select 'View Event Log'.
  • The unique Referral Reference value can be found at the top of the Event Log window.

How does Ocean integrate with Health Report Manager (HRM®)?

Ontario Pilot Phase

Please note that the Ocean-HRM integration is curently in a closed pilot phase and not yet widely available.

What is HRM®?

Health Report Manager (HRM®) is a digital health solution developed by OntarioMD that enables clinicians using an OntarioMD-certified EMR to securely receive reports electronically from participating hospitals and independent health facilities. This transfer of information typically occurs near the end of the referral lifecycle when a specialist is sending a consultation report/letter back to the referring clinician.

Clinicians in Ontario using the Ocean Provider Network can send and receive consultation reports for eReferrals using HRM's integration with Ocean and their OntarioMD-certified EMR.

Ocean-HRM Message Sender Configuration

Sender Approval

To send messages and documents in Ocean via HRM, clinicians must obtain a 'UPI' identifier from the OntarioMD service desk by calling 1-866-744-8668 or emailing support@ontariomd.com.

Once the 'UPI' identifier has been obtained, clinicians must send it to the OceanMD Support team for backend configuration in Ocean. You will be notified when your Ocean site has been approved to send HRM reports.

Sender Configuration

  • Clinicians who are sending HRM messages must ensure they have entered their 'Professional ID' within their Ocean user account settings under the 'Clinical Contact Information' section.
  • Clinicians who are sending HRM messages should also enable the 'Authentication - Requesting providers must sign in' setting in their own Directory Listing settings. This ensures that all referrers are signed in to an Ocean user account while sending the eReferral, allowing for HRM messaging as described below when possible.

Ocean-HRM Message Receiver Configuration

Receiver Approval

To receive messages and documents via HRM, clinicians must first be approved by OntarioMD. OntarioMD periodically provides a list of approved receiving clinicians to OceanMD to update in the Ocean platform.

This list is used by Ocean to determine whether a clinician should receive a message via HRM in addition to the existing eReferral message and email notification mechanisms in Ocean.

If you are interested in becoming an approved HRM receiver, contact the OntarioMD service desk by calling 1-866-744-8668 or emailing support@ontariomd.com.

Receiver Configuration

  • Once approved in the Ocean backend, referring clinicians must update the 'Clinician Information' setting in their Directory Listing settings with their First Name, Surname, and Professional ID at a minimum.
  • Clinicians that have been properly approved by both OntarioMD and OceanMD will see an approval message stating 'This clinician uses HRM' in the Clinician Information window.

Sending Messages via HRM

Once you have fulfilled the 'Ocean-HRM Message Sender Configuration' requirements outlined above, you are able to send HRM messages within an Ocean eReferral.

Note:

HRM messages can only be sent within an eReferral if:

  • The original referrer was signed in to an Ocean user account when sending the eReferral.
  • There is at least one referral stakeholder that is live on HRM.
    • 'Stakeholders' include the original referrer and any other referral targets that previously 'owned' the eReferral.
    • Stakeholders are only considered to be 'live' if they meet the 'Ocean-HRM Message Receiver Configuration' requirements outlined above.
  • Locate and open the relevant eReferral in Ocean.
  •  
  • Using the 'Messaging' area, include your consultation report/letter as an attachment and optionally enter a message in the text field, and then press 'Send'.
  • After your message has been sent, you will see a checkmark icon to the right of the sent message confirming that the message has been sent via HRM in addition to the standard eReferral message and email notification mechanisms in Ocean.

    Note: If the HRM message failed to send, you will see a red exclamation (!) icon instead of a checkmark.

  • Clicking on the icon provides more detailed information regarding the HRM status, along with the ability to re-send the HRM message if necessary.

Receiving Messages via HRM

If you have completed the 'Ocean-HRM Message Receiver Configuration' requirements outlined above and an HRM message is sent to you via an Ocean eReferral, you will be notified via the standard messaging and email notification mechanisms in Ocean.

You will additionally receive the HRM message in your OntarioMD-certified EMR. The core content for all HRM messages is standard across all OntarioMD-certified EMRs, containing: report category (LOINC), report body, author, date, etc.

Note: Due to HRM constraints, a single HRM message containing both a typed message and a file attachment will appear in your EMR as two separate HRM messages - one containing the typed message, and a second one containing the file attachment.

An example is shown using the PS Suite EMR below, for reference:

Example of a typed HRM message
Example of a file attachment include in HRM message.

Troubleshooting & Support

For all troubleshooting inquiries please contact the OceanMD Support team.

Some helpful troubleshooting tips are provided below:

  • If you attempt to send an HRM message and no status icon appears to the right of the message within the eReferral, this means Ocean made no attempt to send the message via HRM. Verify that at least one referral stakeholder is live on HRM, and registered as an HRM receiver in Ocean using the verification process outlined above.
  • If you attempt to send an HRM message and the red failure icon appears, click on the icon for additional details.
    • If available, take note of the 'Transaction ID' value and the corresponding error message and send them to the contact the OceanMD Support team

What do the different request colours mean in the eReferrals & eConsults area?

The eReferrals & eConsults area of the Ocean portal is used to view, manage, and action the different requests your Ocean Site receives. For certain statuses and request types, Ocean modifies the colour of the text for quick reference.

Colour Coding

  • The default text colour for eReferrals is black.
  • The text colour for eConsults is blue.
  • The text for cancelled eConsults is stricken through and blue.
  • Requests that are declined are underlined and red.
  • Requests that are cancelled are stricken through and red.
  • Requests that have marked as 'Awaiting Reply' are denoted using purple text.

What is the difference between a Health Service Category and a Health Service Offering?

Definitions

The terms "Health Service Categories" and "Health Service Offerings" are often used interchangeably, however it is important to truly understand the difference in their meanings.

What are Health Service Categories?

Health Service Categories are a defined list of terms that are used in the Ocean Healthmap to support simpler searching, filtering, and Directory Listing creation. This defined taxonomy is used to help categorize the Health Service Offerings on a Directory Listing in the Ocean Healthmap.

A complete list of the defined Health Service Categories is available here.

What is a Health Service Offering?

A Health Service Offering is a customizable, searchable description of a service that is listed on the Directory Listing in the Ocean Healthmap. Health Service Offerings are mapped to the most appropriate Health Service Category.

In many cases, a Directory Listing may simply use a defined Health Service Category as their Health Service Offering, however, the option for full customization is possible using Health Service Offerings.

Why do they both exist?

The Ocean Healthmap is a comprehensive, map-based directory that makes it easy to search and access health care services. This is made possible through the use of a defined list of possible health care services - namely Health Service Categories. The defined list of Health Service Categories allows for discrete categorization of services offered by all health care providers on the Ocean Healthmap. This ensures that when a specific health care service is being searched for, the applicable providers of that service are properly accounted for in the search results.

However, it is important to acknowledge that a single defined list of possible health care services will not always capture the nuances of the service(s) being provided. This is addressed through the use of Health Service Offerings. The Health Service Offerings presented on a Directory Listing in the Ocean Healthmap can be customized to reflect greater accuracy of the specific name or nuance of the health care services being offered.

For example, a clinic offering dermatological services could add the specific 'Dermatology' Health Service Category as a Health Service Offering on their Directory Listing, but only offer a subset of specific services or programs. To communicate this nuance to potential referrers browsing the Ocean Healthmap, they can customize the name of the offering for accuracy - such as renaming it to 'Pigmented Lesion / Mole Clinic' if they only offer these specific dermatological services.

Referrers who are browsing the 'Dermatology' category on the Ocean Healthmap would see the clinic's Directory Listing with the 'Pigmented Lesion / Mole Clinic' Health Service Offering, since it is truly the 'Dermatology' Health Service Category with a customized Health Service Offering name.

What if I can't find the exact Health Service Category for my Directory Listing?

If you are unable to locate a Health Service Category in Ocean that exactly matches the services you offer, we recommend adding the most similar Health Service Category as a Health Service Offering on your Directory Listing. You can then customize the name of the offering to more accurately reflect the specific services you offer.

How do I customize the name?

You can customize the name of your Health Service Offering by following the steps below:

  • Navigate to your Directory Listing settings, and locate the 'Service Details' section.
  • In the 'Offers' field, search for and select the most applicable Health Service Category to add it as a Health Service Offering on your Directory Listing.
  • After adding your Health Service Offering, click on it to open it's customization options.
  • Specify your customize name in the 'Program Name' field, and press 'OK'.
  • Your customized Health Service Offering name will appear in the 'Offers' section, with the true Health Service Category shown in parentheses.
  • Press 'Save Changes' in the bottom right corner to save your Directory Listing.

Can I request additional Health Services Categories?

No, you cannot request that additional Health Service Categories be added as they are a standardized and defined list in Ocean. Under certain circumstances, additional synonyms for Health Service Categories may be added to enhance the searching and filtering capabilities within the Ocean Healthmap.


How do I set a Clinical Delegate user for my Ocean user account?

If you work with an MOA, receptionist, nurse, resident, or student who will be sending eConsults and/or eReferrals on your behalf, you will want to invite them to create an Ocean user account and set them as your clinical delegate.

  1. Add your delegate(s) to your Ocean account

    • Log into the Ocean Portal.
    • Click your name in the top right hand corner and select My Account from the menu.
    • From the User Settings page of your account, select the "Edit Delegates" button.
    • On the Delegates page, click the "Add Delegate" button and select the username(s) of the user that you want to add as your clinical delegate(s). You can add any number of delegates to be associated with your Ocean user account.
  2. Set a Primary Delegate (optional)

    • You can select one of your delegates to be your Primary Delegate. The Primary Delegate will be covered under your Patient Messaging license (if applicable.)

      Note: The delegate user must be assigned one of the following clinician types: MOA/Secretary, Nurse, Resident, Physician Assistant or Other.
    • Under the "Actions" column, click the "Make Primary Delegate" button.
    • Once set, the "Actions" column will read "Primary Delegate." This confirms the chosen delegate is now associated with your Patient Messaging license.

Note:  A Site Admin user can see and edit delegates for all users at their site in the Admin view. Refer to this article: Edit Delegates Page.


Information on Rapid Access Clinics/Assessment Centres

What is a Rapid Access Clinic?

Rapid Access Clinics (also known as Assessment Centres) are commonly used in the Musculoskeletal care (MSK) pathway. Patients referred to these listings are booked in for an assessment with an advanced practice physiotherapist (APP), who determines whether surgery is appropriate for the patient and may forward the referral downstream (e.g, to a surgeon/specialist). This configuration allows for a special set of "assessment" analytics to be captured on referrals that are directed to, and booked at, these listings.

What makes a Rapid Access Clinic unique in Ocean?

There are three main elements that differentiate Rapid Access Clinic sites from standard Ocean sites:

Directory Listing Configuration

Rapid Access Clinic sites have unique Directory Listings that are specifically configured by OceanMD. The 'Listing Type' field is set to 'Rapid Access Clinic'.

Forward Button

  • Once configured as a Rapid Access Clinic by OceanMD, a more prominent 'Forward' button appears in each referral received.
  • This provides Rapid Access Clinic users with the ability to forward the referral to the appropriate service provider (e.g., forwarding the referral to a surgeon after the advanced practice physiotherapist deems surgery necessary).

Analytics

Sites designated as a Rapid Access Clinic on their Directory Listing capture additional analytic values. Please see the 'Rapid Access Clinic Analytics' section at the bottom of this article for in depth information.

How do Rapid Access Clinics receive referrals?

Since the Rapid Access Clinic (RAC) concept was developed specifically for the musculoskeletal (MSK) pathway, RACs typically receive referrals that have been forwarded from a Central Intake site.

While it is technically possible for a RAC site to exist and receive referrals from non-Central Intake sites (e.g., an independent healthcare provider referring directly to a RAC via the Ocean Healthmap), there are currently no sites or organizations using such a process.

The typical flow for a referral reaching a RAC is as follows:

Original Referral Sender --> Central Intake (triaging occurs) --> Rapid Access Clinic (in-depth assessment occurs with APP to determine best course of clinical action) --> (If applicable) referral is forwarded to a Surgeon/Specialist for more invasive procedure.

Rapid Access Clinic Process

  • The RAC receives a referral from a Central Intake site. The referral is found in the RAC's 'New' folder.
  • The RAC decides whether or not to accept or decline the referral (based on appropriateness). Most often, it is appropriate and accepted.
  • The RAC books an appointment for the APP to see the patient, making use of the 'Scheduling' pane of the referral.
  • The APP conducts an assessment of the patient, and uses the 'Review...' functionality within the 'Notes' pane of the referral to complete the 'Assessment Outcome Form'.

    The Assessment Outcome Form is a specially configured eForm used to document the APP's decision, while also capturing specific values to be used in the referral analytics.

  • Based on the assessment outcome:

    1) The patient may continue to see the APP for a conservative approach for rehabilitation

    2) The APP may forward the referral to another service provider (e.g., community physiotherapist) to continue a conservative rehabilitation approach

    3) The APP may forward the referral to a surgeon/specialist for a more invasive surgical procedure

    Note: If the referral is manually forwarded (i.e., to a listing that is NOT accepting eReferrals), the RAC must indicate which stakeholder in the process receives the onus of updating the referral. See the 'Manual Forward Policy' section below.

  • The APP uses the 'Email Note' functionality in the Notes pane to email the note generated by the Assessment Outcome Form back to the original referral sender.

Rapid Access Clinic Analytics

Core Analytics

When a Directory Listing is configured as a Rapid Access Clinic, Ocean makes use additional data columns in the eReferral analytics report. A full breakdown of all analytics can be found in the Supporting Analytics in eConsults and/or eReferral eForms article.

The following analytics are automatically captured for listings configured as an RAC:

initialAssessmentDate
The date/time of the initial assessment if the referral is booked at an assessment centre.
initialAssessmentSite
The name of the initial assessment site listing.
initialAssessmentSiteNum
The site number of the initial assessment site the referral was directed to.
initialAssessmentSiteRef
The unique listing consult and/or reference id of the initial assessment site.
initialAssessmentOfferingRef
The unique Health Service Offering (HSO) reference assigned to the referral, at the time it was sent to the RAC.
forwardDateFromAssessmentSite
The date the referral is forwarded from a listing of type Rapid Access Clinic.

Additional Analytics

Rapid Access Clinics use customized 'Outcome Assessment Forms' (an eForm wit the ref = 'referralNotes') used with the 'Review' functionality in the referral to generate the Review note. Outcome Assessment Forms used by RACs often include eForm items with the following item references to populate additional fields in the analytics report.

Common item reference examples used in RAC Outcome Assessment Forms include the following:

  • ax_surgicalCandidate
  • ax_assessmentOutcome
  • ax_assessmentOutcomeMedicalSpecialist
  • ax_assessmentOutcomeCommunityProgram
  • ax_assessmentOutcomeSelfManagement
  • ax_patientPreference
  • ax_consultOutcome
  • ax_decisionToConsult (Note: Important as this column is used in wait time calculations.)

Keep in mind that the semantics behind each is arbitrary and you can "co-opt" them for the purposes of a particular pathway as long as the consumers of the analytical data understand the data values.

Manual Forward Policy

If an Ocean Site decides to forward a referral following an assessment, they have the option of forwarding to a listing that is accepting eReferrals on the Ocean Healthmap, or they can choose to manually forward the referral (e.g. via fax) to a service provider who is not accepting eReferrals.

  • If they decide to manually forward the referral, they are prompted to choose the site that should be responsible for follow-up scheduling of the forwarded referral.
  • Ocean Sites can modify the 'Manual Forward Policy' within their Directory Listing(s)'s 'eReferral Policy' section' to indicate standard behaviour for this specific manual forwarding workflow.

While this functionality has been purpose-built for the MSK pathway in which the RAC is the third sequential stakeholder in the referral process, this functionality technically applies to any Ocean site that is: 1) the third site to handle the referral and 2) manually forwards the referral.


Can I include handout files for patients on my listing in the Ocean Healthmap?

  • Yes, you can include patient handout files for each of the Health Service Offerings shown on your Directory Listing in the Ocean Healthmap.
  • The handouts are made available for download when the Health Service Offering is selected on the listing.
  • Additionally, when a patient is referred under a specific Health Service Offering, the email notification they receive (if applicable) will include the handout files.

How do I add handout files?

  • Log in to the Ocean Portal, open the 'Menu' and select 'Admin'. From the Admin Settings page, select 'Directory Listings'.
  • Within the appropriate Directory Listing, locate the 'Service Details' section and select the appropriate service offering.
  • Locate the 'Patient Handout' file uploader, and press 'Choose File'. Select the appropriate handout file from your computer.

    Note: You can add multiple handout files by uploading them one at a time.

  • Once the file(s) have been added, press 'OK'. The handout file(s) can now be found in your listing in the Ocean Healthmap, and will be included in the patient's email notification if they are referred for that health service.

Note: Since handout files are added to each individual Health Service Offering, you can attach different handout files for each of your offerings. Alternatively, you can add the same handout file(s) to all of your offerings.


How does my Clinician Type impact my functionalities as a Clinical Delegate sending eReferrals in Ocean?

A Clinical Delegate has the ability to send eReferrals on behalf of another Ocean user. Depending on the Clinician Type selected in your Account Settings, your experience when sending an Ocean eReferral as a Clinical Delegate will be different. As the scope of practice for each user on your Ocean site varies, the sending experience and wording of an eReferral changes to reflect the relevant scope.

  • When sending a new eReferral as a Clinical Delegate, the dropdown menu in the 'Referrer's Information' panel allows you to select the referring provider, if applicable. The menu displays all providers for which the sending user is designated as a Clinical Delegate.
  • Ocean users with the 'MOA/Secretary' Clinician Type must select a referring provider from the dropdown menu. All other Clinician Types are also eligible to select themselves as the referrer.
  • After the eReferral has been sent, email notifications are sent to the 'Referral Notification Email' email address listed in referring provider's account settings. If there is no email listed, email notifications will be sent to the 'Clinical Delegate Email(s)' listed in the referring provider's account settings.
  • Note: Email notifications will not be sent to the delegate user who initiated the eReferral on behalf of the referring provider. The notifications will only be sent to the user selected in the 'Referrer's Information' dropdown menu.

Special Considerations

Due to the possible variation in the scope of practice of users on your Ocean site, additional features have been implemented to meet this consideration.

Physician Assistants

  • When sending an eReferral on behalf of a physician as a Physician Assistant, the Referrer's Information panel is modified to clearly indicate that the eReferral is being sent by a Physician Assistant, on behalf of the referring provider.
  • This is recorded in the General pane of the eReferral, so the recipient can clearly see that it was sent on behalf of the referring physician.
  • After the eReferral has been sent, email notifications are sent to the 'Referral Notification Email' email address listed in referring provider's (i.e., the physician's) account settings. If there is no email listed, email notifications will be sent to the 'Clinical Delegate Email(s)' listed in the referring provider's account settings.

Nurse Practitioners

  • In the case that a Nurse Practitioner initiates an eReferral for a medical test/procedure which requires authorization from a physician, an 'Authorizing Physician' field is added to the Referrer's Information panel to select the authorizing MD.
  • Typing into the field searches the Ocean Healthmap directory for convenient selection of the authorizing physician.
  • Once the Authorizing Physician is selected and the eReferral is sent, it is recorded in the General pane of the eReferral, so the recipient can clearly see the physician who provided authorization.
  • After the eReferral has been sent, email notifications are sent to the 'Referral Notification Email' email address listed in Nurse Practitioner's account settings. If there is no email listed, email notifications will be sent to the 'Clinical Delegate Email(s)'.

Creation of Multiple Ocean Sites

By default, a single EMR instance should always be associated with a single Ocean site. This approach eliminates the risk of numerous issues that can arise when an EMR instance is associated with multiple Ocean sites. These may include technical, billing, and usage concerns.

There are some limited cases where an exception may be made, allowing a single EMR instance to be associated with multiple Ocean sites under extenuating circumstances. Special attention and consideration must be given when determining whether or not an exception should be made for a specific practice and/or EMR instance.

The series of questions below walks through the factors that must be considered before deciding to create an additional Ocean site(s) for a single EMR instance. Please ensure that you complete the entire series of questions to determine whether or not multiple Ocean sites are appropriate.

1. Can your EMR support multiple Ocean sites?

Only certain EMRs are capable of being associated with multiple Ocean sites.

It is not possible for clinics using OSCAR Pro or Med Access to have multiple Ocean sites associated with their single EMR instance. Clinics using these EMRs can only have a single Ocean site.

  • OSCAR Pro
  • Med Access
  • PS Suite
  • Accuro

If the clinic is using either PS Suite or Accuro, please proceed to the following question.

2. Are staff shared between clinics/practices?

This includes administrative staff, physicians and allied health staff.

  • Staff are shared among clinics/practices/sites
  • Staff are not shared among clinics/practices/sites

If staff are not being shared among clinics, please proceed to the following question.

3. Specific EMR Considerations

There are certain EMR-specific considerations that must be taken into account when deciding if multiple Ocean sites are feasible for a single EMR instance. Please expand the appropriate EMR tab below.

PS Suite

Do you share computers/workstations?

If computers/workstations are being shared among staff under different clinics/practices, significant issues will arise during Ocean configuration.

  • Computers/workstations are shared
  • Computers/workstations are not shared

If computers are not being shared, please proceed to the next question.

Do you share physical space?

Physical space includes exam rooms, check-in areas, administrative workspaces, etc.

  • Physical space is shared
  • Physical space is not shared

If physical space is not being shared, the clinic is eligible to have multiple Ocean sites associated with a single PS Suite EMR instance.

PS Suite Set-Up

Sites will need to ensure that the Ocean Toolbar on each workstation is associated with the appropriate Ocean Site. Please refer to the following article for steps on how to do this: How do I switch between Ocean sites on PS Suite?

Accuro

Do you share EMR schedules?

  • EMR schedules are shared
  • EMR schedules are not shared

If EMR schedules are not being shared, the clinic is eligible to have multiple Ocean sites associated with a single Accuro EMR instance.

Accuro Set-Up

Please note that if you're setting up your single Accuro Instance to multiple Ocean Sites you will need a different API and Username for each Ocean Site.

Sites will also need to be diligent when setting up their CDS links to ensure they are using the correct API Username and Password, as well as naming the CDS links clearly. We would also highly recommend setting up User Friendly CDS links.


How does Ocean's health service directory (oceanhealthmap.ca) find and prioritize search results?

Ocean uses a popular, powerful search engine called Elasticsearch [https://www.elastic.co/what-is/elasticsearch] to find relevant health service directory listings. Elasticsearch allows Ocean to use multiple criteria when searching for listings, including text keywords, location, distance, wait time, subspecialty information, and other properties.

Search Criteria
The primary search criteria is usually typed by the user, such as "cardiology" or "North Toronto Medical", similar to how Internet searches like Google work. These searches perform a keyword-based search that scans the listing's title, description, and service offerings for matches. Users also have the option of selecting a specific value from an automatic dropdown list, such as "MRI", to precisely find listings that are specifically tagged as offering these services.

Users can add additional constraints on top of this primary search, such as spoken language, using the "Advanced Search". To avoid returning distant results, the search uses the currently-visible map boundary as an initial constraint. After an initial search, a user has the option to search the "whole directory", which removes this map boundary constraint. Similar to Google Maps, users may also click to drag the map around, then click the button in the new area of the map to "Search This Area."

Sorting
When a user triggers a search in the healthmap, Ocean uses a default sort preference that relies on the relevance "score" provided by ElasticSearch, which may be guided by factors such as keyword matching. In addition, Ocean applies a simple weight to the score to ensure the following listings are prioritized, in the following order:

  • User favourites
  • Site favourites
  • Government central intakes and rapid-access clinics (as designated by Provincial Ministry of Health)
  • Listings that are currently accepting eReferrals or eConsults
  • Listings that redirect to a central intake eReferral site
  • Other listings

Users also have the option to use the drop-down sort option to further sort the default results, which will impact the order of results. Ocean offers a sort by distance (shortest distance measured from the patient's home or the central map pin, if the patient's address is unavailable), or by the shortest Wait Time (Wait 1 / Wait 2). After a sort order has been applied to a search, it is retained for subsequent searches in the same session.


Please Note: As a matter of policy, Ocean does not make individual adjustments to promote or demote listing results. Search order results may change at any time, based on the ElasticSearch relevance calculation.


Can I send eReferrals from the Ocean Portal with pre-populated patient demographics?

  • For non-integrated Ocean sites, users can go directly to the Ocean Healthmap to send eReferrals. As the patient demographic information is not pulled in from an integrated-EMR, referring providers will need to manually complete this portion of the referral at the time of sending.
  • If these sites would like to have their patient information pre-populated, they can bulk upload a set of patients in to their Ocean site under the Patients View.
  • See the following support article for the various importer types and their sample templates that can be uploaded into Ocean. The General Importer is the sample containing all of the patient demographic fields on a referral form. Use this sample file to generate a list of your patients you would like to upload into your Ocean site.
  • Once your patient list is generated, go to the Action menu in the bottom left of Patients page and select "Upload Patients from File".
  • Select the file containing your list of patients, choose the General Importer from the dropdown, and provide a Cohort Id (a name to identify the patient set being uploaded).
  • Select "Upload". You will receive a confirmation prompt when the patients have been successfully uploaded into your Ocean site.
  • From there, referring providers can select the patient they would like to send a referral for, and then choose "Find Health Service". This will launch the provider into the Healthmap, pulling in the patient demographic information and prepopulating it on the referral form.

 

Note: Uploaded patients will be maintained in Ocean for 14 days before they are purged automatically from the site.


What File Types and Sizes can be Added as Attachments to eConsults and/or eReferrals?

When including attachments on eConsults/eReferrals, there are certain file size and type limitations that providers should be aware of.

  • For example, Ocean will only accept attachments with a size limit of 10MB per attachment, and up to 50MB total for all attachments included on the eConsult/eReferral. If an attachment that exceeds this file size limit is added, an error message will appear.
  • Ocean also has filetype restrictions. Only attachments of the following types can be included: "jpg", "jpeg", "png", "tiff", "tif", "mp3", "mp4", "txt", and "pdf". If an unsupported file type is added the user will be prompted with an error message.

What do the different inboxes mean?

The inboxes in the eReferrals page are used to manage your site's eConsults and/or eReferrals. Each inbox is described here to help you process and manage incoming and outgoing consults and/or referrals.

  • General Inboxes

    • Needs Review
      Any consults and/or referrals that have been flagged for review.
      For Me
      Consults and/or Referrals that have been flagged for your review using the "Notify" feature.
      Recently Viewed
      Any consults and/or referrals that you have recently viewed, within the past 48 hours.
  • Received Inboxes

    • New
      Consults and/or Referrals that have been received and have not yet been accepted or declined.
      Accepted as eConsult
      Consults that have been reviewed and accepted.
      eConsult in Progress
      Consults that have been responded to.
      Pending Booking
      Accepted referrals that have not been booked for appointments.
      Booked Unconfirmed
      Any accepted referrals that include appointments that have not been confirmed by the patient.
      Booked Confirmed
      Any accepted referrals that include appointments that have been confirmed by the patient.
      Awaiting Reply
      Any consult and/or referral that you have followed up with the referrer for additional information and are currently awaiting reply.
      Walk-ins
      Any consults and/or referrals that have been accepted as a walk-in appointment.
      All Received
      All consults and/or referrals that your site has received regardless of their current status.
      Completed
      Consults and/or Referrals that have been marked "Complete" following their appointment date.
      Forwarded (All)
      Any consults and/or referrals that your site has received and you have forwarded to another site.
      Declined
      Consults and/or Referrals that you have declined.
      Cancelled
      All canceled consults and/or referrals.
      Externally Managed
      Any consults and/or referrals that have been marked as Managed Externally.
  • Sent Inboxes

    • Sent (All)
      All consults and/or referrals that have been sent from your site.
      Incomplete
      Any outgoing consults and/or referrals that have been saved for later completion (have not been sent yet). These referrals are only saved in Ocean for 30 days before they are automatically deleted.
      Awaiting Response
      Any consults and/or referrals that you have sent that have not yet been accepted by the recipient.
      Accepted as Walk-In
      Any sent consults and/or referrals that have been accepted as a walk-in appointment by the recipient.
      Accepted as eConsult
      Any sent referrals that have been accepted as an eConsult by the recipient.
      Pending Booking
      All referrals that have been sent from your site that are accepted and awaiting to be booked by the recipient.
      Booked Unconfirmed
      All referrals that have been sent from your site and include appointments that have not been confirmed by the patient.
      Booked Confirmed
      All referrals that have been sent from your site and include appointments that the patient has confirmed.
      Completed
      Consults that have been marked as completed after an eConsult response, and referrals that have been marked as completed following their appointment date(s).
      Declined
      Your sent consults and/or referrals that were declined.
      Cancelled
      Your sent consults and/or referrals that were canceled.
      Externally Managed
      Any sent consults and/or referrals that have been marked as Managed Externally.
  • Other Inboxes

    • Deletion Warnings
      Consults and/or Referrals that are approaching deletion.
      Actions
      Use this menu to create an inbound request, view the directory, export consults and/or referrals, update wait time, or view a patient's referral history.
      Support
      Click here to contact the CognisantMD helpdesk.

What do the icons and buttons mean?

When managing incoming eConsults and/or eReferrals from the eReferrals page in the Ocean Portal, you may encounter icons or buttons that you are unsure of. Below is a list of the various icons and buttons that may appear and their meaning.

Icons within the eReferrals page

Icon Definition
Column_sorting.png Column currently being sorted (and direction – ascending or descending).
Message.png There is a message associated with the eConsult and/or eReferral.
View_prior_referrals.png View this patient's previous eConsults and/or eReferrals.
Attachment.png There is an attachment associated with the eConsult and/or eReferral.
Waiting_for_EMR.png This patient's chart in the EMR cannot be found and Ocean is waiting for the EMR.
Backup_exported.png A backup copy of the eConsult and/or eReferral has been exported from Ocean.
Notes_downloaded.png The notes for this patient have been downloaded into the EMR.
Ready_for_download.png This patient has notes that are ready to be downloaded into the EMR.
Forwarded.png The eConsult and/or eReferral has been electronically forwarded to an eReferral recipient.
Forwarded_by_fax.png The eConsult and/or eReferral has been manually forwarded to a fax recipient.

Icons within the eConsult and/or eReferral

Icon Definition
Edit_patient_details.png Edit patient level details (email, phone, address).
Requires_review.png A component of the eConsult and/or eReferral requires review (message, referral note, etc.).
Reviewed.png A component of the eConsult and/or eReferral that was previously requiring review has been reviewed.
Message_in_referral.png Add a canned note or Review/ Triage form to the eConsult and/or eReferral. Select a canned booking comment when scheduling appointments. Select a canned message in the eConsult and/or eReferral messaging pane.
Send_patient_note.png Send a patient note or resend patient appointment notification email.
Add_note.png Add a new note to the master eConsult and/or eReferral (while viewing a child eReferral).
Analytics.png The eReferral will be included in wait time calculations, because a date booked comment has not been chosen.
Delete_attachment.png Delete an attachment that has been added to the appointment notification email.

Buttons within the eConsult and/or eReferral

Button Definition
Accept.png Accepts the eConsult and/or eReferral. If an appointment time is entered, the eReferral will move to your Booked Unconfirmed inbox (or Booked Confirmed if the Confirmed checkbox is selected). If no appointment time is entered, the eReferral will move to your Pending Booking inbox.
Accept_Reply.png Moves the eConsult and/or eReferral from the Awaiting Reply inbox to the appropriate inbox based on the eReferral status.
Completed.png Indicates that the eConsult and/or eReferral as complete and not requiring any further follow up. Will move the referral to your Completed inbox.
Decline.png Declines the eConsult and/or eReferral and moves it to the Declined inbox. Clicking this will prompt you for the reason and an optional message that will be sent to notify the sender.
Forward_Referral.png Forwards the eConsult and/or eReferral to the selected site for further follow up. Moves the consult/referral to your Forwarded (All) inbox.
OK.png Acknowledges that you have read and accept the text that is in the window.
Reviewed.png Indicates that the component requiring review has been reviewed. Will move the eConsult and/or eReferral to the appropriate inbox based on the status.
Send.png Sends the message and any attached files to the sender.
Cancel.png Closes the window without saving any changes and returns to the previous screen.
Save.png

Saves changes made.

Note: The window will remain open when this option is selected.

Done.png Saves changes made and closes the window.
Done_and_Await_Reply.PNG

Saves changes made and closes the window. Will move the eConsult and/or eReferral to the Awaiting Reply inbox.

Note: This option appears in a dropdown menu beside Done when a message is sent from the eConsult and/or eReferral.

Notify.png

Notifies the selected provider that an eConsult and/or eReferral requires their attention when flagging for review.

Note: The consult and/or referral must be saved in order for the notification to be sent.

Note: From the eReferrals page in the Ocean Portal, hovering over each of the icons for a moment will also bring up a tooltip displaying the icon's meaning.


What do the different Action Menu Items mean?

  • The Action menu on an eConsult and/or eReferral in the eReferrals View is used to action on and manage your site's consults and/or referrals. Each action menu item is described here to help you process and manage incoming and outgoing eConsults and/or eReferrals. 

Sender and Receiver Actions

Download Referral Record
Opens a PDF document of the complete record in a new browser tab where it can be printed and/or downloaded, OR it downloads a TIFF file (dependent on the site's settings configured here). This record includes all scheduling information, notes, messages, and attachments included on the Ocean eConsult and/or eReferral.
Download Referral Note
Opens a PDF document of the note in a new browser tab where it can be printed and/or downloaded, OR it downloads a TIFF file (dependent on the site's settings configured here). This summary document only includes the patient, recipient, and referrer/sender information, as well as the contents of the note.
Download Patient Handout
Opens a PDF handout in a new browser tab that can be printed and provided to the patient. This handout includes patient information, recipient information (including a map of current consult and/or referral location), future appointment information for the patient, as well as any booking attachments added to the eConsult and/or eReferral.
Download Status Notification Sheet
Opens a PDF document in a new browser tab where it can be printed and/or downloaded. This document is directed to the sending/referring provider, and can be used to notify them of any status updates if they are not yet on Ocean. It contains patient, recipient, consult and/or referral status information, and any scheduling information present on the eReferral. 
Import into EMR
Triggers a new import of the consult and/or referral into the integrated EMR.
Export
Opens up a consult and/or referral summary that can be copied and pasted into the patient's EMR. For integrated EMRs, this summary will be stamped automatically into the patient chart notes at the time of sending/receiving the consult/referral.
View Event Log
  • Opens up an event log of the various actions that have occurred on the consult/referral. The log includes the event type, date and time of occurrence, the user who actioned it, and the Ocean site and listing it was actioned from. The Event Log is also where the  reference is found, and the purge date.
View Patient History
Used to review a patient's referral history. These include any consults and/or referrals sent or received by the same Ocean site, for the same patient. If there are no previous consults and/or referrals for that patient to review, you will not see this option in the Action menu.
Reclaim Ownership of Referral
When a consult and/or referral has been revoked from a site, or declined at a site, the site will have the opportunity to reclaim ownership back to their site if they need to action on it further.
Resubmit
This option will be found on Cancelled or Declined consults/referrals, and can be used to resubmit them to the site they were previously cancelled from, or declined at.

Sender Specific Actions

Cancel Referral

Used to cancel a consult and/or referral. This option should only be chosen by the sender when a consult and/or referral to the current provider is no longer necessary. When clicked the user is prompted for a reason for cancelling, and the consult/referral is moved to the Cancelled folder of the sender site. The consult/referral is also flagged for review by the recipient site, and can be found in their "Needs Review" tab with an automated message informing the site the consult/referral was cancelled.

Note: This option will be called Cancel eConsult, if the referral has been responded to as an eConsult.

Receiver Specific Actions

Forward
  • This action allows you to forward the consult and/or referral to another target, belonging to the same or different Ocean site. When clicked, the user is prompted to choose a listing from the Forward Referral pane, that pulls in listings from the Ocean Healthmap. Once the desired listing is selected, and the consult/referral is forwarded, it will move to your site's "Forwarded (All)" folder where you can continue to access and receive updates regarding it.

Note: The consult and/or referral can be electronically forwarded to listings on the Ocean eReferral Network (designated by the green arrow), or manually forwarded. If manually forwarded, you will be prompted to print and fax the consult/referral before selecting the Forward option in Ocean.

Revoke Forward

This action is only available on Forwarded consults and/or referrals. If it was forwarded in error, or it simply needs to be directed, you can revoke it back to your site. The action of revoking will move the consult/referral back to your site's New tab. At the recipient site the consult/referral will be flagged for review, with an Ocean automated message stating that the consult/referral was revoked and the reason why, in both the Messaging and Notes pane. Any PHI will be scrubbed from the consult/referral at that time.

Notes: if you attempt to revoke forward a referral that already has been scheduled at the receiving site, you will be prompted to ask the site to remove the appointment information before doing so, to prevent any booking confusion in the future. If you attempt to revoke forward a referral that has already had a subsequent forward, you will be prompted to reclaim ownership of that referral instead. This will also send an automated message to the recipient site, flagging the referral for review and informing them the ownership was reclaimed.

Add Related Referral
This allows you to create a copy of the consult and/or referral, that can be assigned it's own health service offering and description, and be managed separately from the original. 
Await Reply
This moves the consult and/or referral to the "Awaiting Reply" tab, where it will sit until you receive the required information from the sending site (usually requested in a message on the consult/referral), and can action on the consult/referral further.
Mark as Test/Unmark Test
Used to flag whether this is a test consult/referral or not. When marked as test, it is excluded from the site's analytics.

How long will my eConsults/eReferrals be stored in Ocean?

Most Ocean eConsults and/or eReferrals are stored for 12 months after they are initiated. However, some are stored for shorter or longer based on their status. These special cases are listed below:

Saved for Later
eConsults/eReferrals that have been 'Saved for Later' will be stored for 30 days.
Pending Booking
If an estimated wait time longer than 12 months has been specified, the referral will be stored for the full duration of the estimated wait time + 60 days.
Booked Unconfirmed & Booked Confirmed
If the appointment is outside of the 12 month period, the eReferral will be stored for 30 days after the patient's booked appointment time.
Booked at a Rapid Access Clinic
If the referral is sent to a Rapid Access Clinic (assessment centre) and booked, the eReferral will be stored for 12 months after the initial assessment date.
Forwarded (New)
If the consult and/or referral is forwarded to another listing, the eConsult and/or eReferral will be stored for 12 months after the latest forward date.
Assigned for Review
If review is requested by another user at the site, the eConsult/eReferral will be stored for 12 months after the date the review was requested.

Attachments have the same retention period as the consult or referral they are attached to.

How long are 'Completed' eReferrals/eConsults stored in Ocean?

An eReferral/eConsult is retained in Ocean after it has been marked as 'Completed' for the longest duration out of the timeframes below:

  • 30 days after the last appointment
  • Referral Sent Date + 365 Days
  • Referral Forward Date + 365 Days (if applicable)
  • Referral Review Request (Needs Review) Date + 365 Days (if applicable)
  • Referral Sent Date + Estimated Wait 1 or Wait 2 + 60 Days

Deletion Warnings

Incomplete, Processed and Completed eConsults/eReferrals don't trigger Deletion Warnings.

An eConsult and/or eReferral with any other status will be moved to the "Deletion Warnings" folder 14 days in advance of being removed from Ocean. A Deletion Warning email notification will also go out to all Ocean Sites with access to the shared record.

  • Storing an eConsult and/or eReferral past scheduled removal

    • If you would like Ocean to continue storing an eConsult and/or eReferral with a Deletion Warning you can click the refresh symbol (circular arrow) at the end of the row to keep storing the consult or referral for an additional 60 days.
  • Checking when an eConsult and/or eReferral will be removed

    • If you would like to see the date that any consult or referral is scheduled to be removed from Ocean, you can click on the "Action" menu and choose "View Event Log". The purge date will be displayed at the bottom of the event log.

Note: Your site may receive a "Deletion Warnings" email, only to find that there are no consults or referrals in the "Deletion Warnings" folder. This could be the case if another user or stakeholder proceeded to "Complete" or "Process" the consult or referral, or refresh the consult/referral to extend the purge date. 


Viewing a Patient's Referral History

If you ever need to inquire about any Ocean eReferral(s) that have been received and processed for a certain patient in the past, you can easily look this up in the patient's eReferral history in Ocean.

For sites receiving eReferrals, it may be valuable to know if the patient has been referred to your site before, and some details of the previous referral(s). Fortunately, you can view a patient's "Referral History" directly from the eReferrals & eConsults View of the Ocean Portal.

Note: A health number and birth date must be included in the referral, in order for Ocean to identify the patient's referral history. This is because these two values are used to generate a unique patient identifier that is stored in Ocean with the referral.

  • The "Referral History" captures the following referral information: Description, Status, Referring Site, Booked Date, Referral Date, Referrer, Provider, Protocol, and Priority.

Similar to referral analytics, because this referral history contains no patient health information (PHI), this data is not purged from Ocean over time. This means that if you were to receive a referral for a patient today, their referral history can still be viewed ten years from now.

If a previous referral is still in Ocean at the time that it's viewed, this referral can be selected from the "Referral History" window. This will open the referral, allowing you to view further details about this referral.

There are three methods to view a patient’s previous referral(s) (i.e. "Referral History"), as outlined below.

"Open File" Icon Action Menu Referral History Search
  • When viewing referrals under the eReferrals & eConsults View in the Ocean Portal, there may be an "Open File" icon displayed on the far right hand side of the referral.
  • This is a quick flag to indicate that there was at least one previous referral for the patient at your site. Simply click this icon to open and view the patient's referral history.

Where do eConsult and/or eReferral notification emails get sent to?

Automatic email notifications are triggered for both patients and senders whenever a consult and/or referral  status is changed from "New" to "Booked"/"Cancelled"/"Declined", or a referral's appointment date or time is changed.

Simply "Accepting" an eConsult and/or eReferral does not typically send an email notification (unless you are in the uncommon scenario that the eReferral is submitted under an eRequest specifically configured to do so).

Determining which email address(es) notifications are sent to depends on the conditions under which the consult/referral was sent and the nature of the notification.

  • An example of the notification email provided to senders, receivers, and patients can be seen by expanding the image on the right.

Notification Email Rules

eReferral SenderseReferral ReceiversPatients

Email Notifications for Referrers

Notification emails are sent to the sender/referrer when:

  • An appointment date is booked, changed, or removed 
  • Booking comments are added or changed
  • The consult and/or referral is forwarded
  • The consult and/or referral is declined and returned to the original referrer*

    *Note: If the referral has been previously forwarded to an additional stakeholder who then declines the referral, the original referrer will not receive a notification email regarding the declination.

  • A secure message is sent to the sender/referrer (patients do not receive this message)
Notifications will be sent based on the following conditions:
An Ocean user is associated with the referral
  • Notifications will be sent to the first email address that is set, based on the following order of email addresses in the user's My Account page (found in the Ocean portal, clicking on your name at top right hand corner, and selecting "My Account"):

    • Referral Notification Email
    • Clinical Delegate Email
    • The user's Email Address

If the referring Ocean user has been removed from the Ocean site, notifications will be sent to the first email address that is set, based on the following order of email addresses in the Ocean Site:

  • Default Incoming Referral Notification Email for the Ocean Site
  • Clinical Administrator / Ocean Support Contact for the Ocean Site
  • The email address associated with the Ocean Site Payer's user account
The referrer was not logged in to an Ocean user account, but provided a specific notification email when sending the referral

Notifications will be sent to the provided email.

Email Notifications for Referral Delegates

If a delegate user sends a referral on behalf of a referring provider, Ocean will use the provider's user settings to determine where the notifications are directed as above.

Accordingly, the delegate user will not receive notifications themselves, unless the provider is no longer a user on the Ocean site, in which case email notifications will be sent to:

  • The delegate's Referral Notification Email
  • The delegate user's Email Address

In the case that both the provider and the delegate have been removed from the Ocean site, email notifications will be sent to the first available email address from the following list:

  • Default Incoming Referral Notification Email for the Ocean Site
  • Clinical Administrator / Ocean Support Contact for the Ocean Site
  • The email address associated with the Ocean Site Payer's user account

Can I change the File Format for Downloaded Records and Notes?

You must be an Admin user at your Ocean site to configure these settings.

If you are a receiving site that accepts eConsults and/or eReferrals and imports them into a non-integrated system, you may want change the file format of the downloaded consult and/or referral to one that is compatible with your system. Ocean currently supports two file options to choose from: PDF or TIFF

  • Open the Menu and select the eReferrals option.
  • Click Settings button in the top right hand corner of the page.
  • Within the Referrals Settings, click to Configure Referrals.
  • Select the dropdown for Referral Records/Notes Filetype and choose between the default PDF files option or the TIFF files format.
  • Save changes.
  • Selecting the Download option in the Import window (which appears after the eConsult and/or eReferral is accepted), will now trigger the file to download in the format specified.
  • The Action Menu items for Download Referral Record and Download Referral Note will also download the consult and/or referral files in the format specified.

What email notifications will patients receive regarding their eReferrals?

If the patient’s email address and consent to receive eReferral notifications via email was provided at the time the eReferral was sent, the patient will receive email notifications when any of the following changes are made to their referral.

  • Sent Referrals

    • When the eReferral is first sent, the patient will receive an email informing them that a health referral was sent for them, and they will be notified when an appointment is booked.
    • If the eReferral is sent for a walk-in health service, the patient will receive the following email notification instead.

    Forwarded Referrals

    • When the patient’s referral is forwarded from a site such as central intake to another site, they will receive an email notifying them of this action.
  • Booked Referrals

    • When an appointment has been booked for the patient's referral, or booking comments have been updated by the referral recipient, the patient will receive an email notifying them of their appointment booking with the option to confirm the appointment.
  • Rescheduled Referrals

    • If the appointment booking date, time, or medium for a referral is changed, the patient will receive an email, notifying them of this scheduling change, again with the option to confirm the appointment.
  • Appointment Reminders

    • If the referral recipient site has activated Appointment Reminders, for their referral appointments, the patient will receive a reminder notification a certain number of days before their scheduled appointment.
  • Declined Referrals

    • If the referral is declined by the referral recipient, they can choose to notify the patient of this declination. A referral may be declined for various reasons, such as if the receiving site determines that it is not appropriate or if it is incomplete.
    • If the referral decliner chooses to notify the patient, the patient will receive an email, notifying them of this declination (booking comments will vary based on the reason for declining the referral).
    • If the referral decliner chooses not to notify the patient, the patient will not receive an email.
    • Note: In the case that a referral is forwarded from one recipient to another (e.g., specialist to specialist, or Central Intake to specialist), and the latter recipient declines the referral, the patient will not receive a notification that the referral was declined. Only the stakeholder which forwarded the referral will receive a notification that the referral was declined.
  • Cancelled Referrals

    • If the referral is cancelled by the referring provider, they can choose to notify the patient of this cancellation.
    • If the referral canceller chooses to notify the patient, the patient will receive an email notifying them of this cancellation (booking comments will vary based on the reason for cancelling the referral).
    • Note: A referral may be cancelled likely because it has already been booked or the patient/referring provider has changed their mind about requesting the referral.

Can Ocean Automatically Mark Booked Referrals as Closed at my Site?

You must be an Admin user at your Ocean site to configure these settings.

If you are a receiving site that accepts eReferrals, and would like to configure your site to automatically close booked referrals, follow the steps outlined below. This will allow your site to automatically move referrals to the Completed folder without having to manually open and mark them as Complete.

  • Open the Menu and select the eReferrals option.
  • Click Settings button in the top right hand corner of the page.
  • Within the Referrals Settings, click to Configure Referrals.
  • Within the Receiving Referrals settings list, select "Yes" under the "Automatically Close Referrals" setting. This will trigger Ocean to run a scheduled job every night to look at ALL referrals sitting in the Booked Confirmed and Booked Unconfirmed folder of your site, and close them.
  • When the above setting is enabled, Ocean defaults to closing referrals 7 days after the latest appointment. You can change the number of days for when you would like Ocean to close the referral, based on how long ago the latest appointment on the referral was.

Note: You will want to ensure the number of days chosen provides your site with enough time to appropriately update referrals as "No Shows", or add additional appointments/slots to referrals that will be booked again, before Ocean automatically closes them.

  • Save changes.
  • Once the scheduled job is run, closed eReferrals will be moved to the Completed folder of your Ocean site. An automated message will be added to the messaging pane to inform all stakeholders that the referral was closed automatically.
  • An "Automatically closed" event will be added to the Event log with the date and time that the scheduled job was run.
  • If any referrals were closed incorrectly, the "Mark Incomplete" button can be used to move them back to the Booked folders.

Can I Configure the Booking Time Options that Appear in the eReferral Scheduling Pane?

You must be an Admin user at your Ocean site to configure these settings.

If you are a receiving site that accepts eReferrals and would like to configure the appointment time options that appear in the referral's scheduling pane, follow the steps outlined below. This will help mitigate appointment scheduling-related errors and make it easier to pick the time of the appointments.

  • Open the Menu and select the eReferrals option.
  • Click Settings button in the top right hand corner of the page.
  • Within the Referrals Settings, click to Configure Referrals.
  • View the Appointment Time Options section on the right hand side of the page.
  • Select the Time System to configure whether the times display as a 12 hour clock, 24 hour clock, or both.
  • Select the Time Interval dropdown and choose the number of minutes you would like the appointment times to be spaced out by.
  • Select the Time Range options to drill the list down to a range of appointment times that match your clinic's hours.
  • Preview the changes in the View Dropdown Values item to ensure the options reflect the desired update for the referral's scheduling pane.
  • Save changes.

Note: If you would like to schedule an appointment outside of the options provided in the dropdown, you can continue to do so simply by typing in the full appointment time, rather than choosing from the dropdown.


Backing Up Your eReferrals

It's a good idea to keep a backup of all your Ocean eReferrals, as they are purged from the Ocean Portal over time.

As Ocean eReferrals are purged from the Ocean Portal over time, it is recommended that you keep a backup of the referrals received at your site. This can be done on a weekly basis, by following the steps below: 

  • Log in to the Ocean Portal and navigate to the 'eReferrals & eConsults' area.
  • Expand the Actions menu at the bottom left. Then select "Export".
  • Select your start and end date for your export. You can download data within a specific date range, based on the referral's modification date. Or, you can pull all data since you started receiving referrals by leaving both dates blank.

    Note: If your specified date range exceeds 31 days and includes more than 500 referrals, you will be prompted to specify a date range of 31 days or less.

  • Select “Export unexported referrals only” if you would only like to export referrals that have not been previously backed up. If you want to export all referrals in the Ocean Portal, uncheck this box.

    Note: Ensure this checkbox is enabled if you are exporting more than 500 referrals.

  • Select “Mark referrals exported” to mark the referrals as backed up once you've completed the export. This will add a green checkbox icon beside the referral in the Ocean portal, once the export is completed. If this box is left unchecked, the next time the export is done, the previously exported referrals will be pulled once again.

    Note: Ensure this checkbox is enabled if you are exporting more than 500 referrals.

  • Finally, click "Export". This will export your data in a .csv file that can be opened using Microsoft Excel.

    Note: If you are exporting more than 500 referrals, continue to click the 'Export' button to download multiple .csv file batches until a completion alert is shown.

Final Comments

The referral export(s) will contain patient health information and should be stored somewhere securely at your site.

Any time a user presses the 'Export' button, an audit log entry (EXPORTED_REFERRALS) is automatically generated documenting the date, time, and user that performed the export.

Referral information pulled in the export includes; referral reference, patient name, description, status, referral date, booked date (if present), referring site, recipient site, clinician, professional ID, patient phone number, patient email, internal comments, referrer comments, and the entire contents of the referral note.

The API also provides access to this referral information. For more details, please refer to: "Ocean Open API".


Batch Printing Received eReferrals

If your Ocean site receives referrals and would like to print or download a PDF copy to maintain with your patient records, this can be done using Ocean's batch print function.

If your Ocean site receives referrals that are not imported directly into an EMR, you can download or print pdf copies of them using the referrals' Action Menu. In some workflows, it may be easier to batch print multiple referrals within a list at once. This can be done using Ocean's batch print function, and the following steps:

  • Log in to the portal and navigate to the eReferrals & eConsults area.
  • Choose the folder of referrals you would like to print. If the referral status is not an element of the desired list of referrals to print, go to the All Received tab.
  • Apply any filters you would like to the list. This includes filtering by booking date, listing, health service offering, referring provider etc.
    • Click the Print Referrals button at the top of the referral list.

Note: Ocean will print all of the matching referrals in the current folder, not just the number of referrals displayed.

    • Confirm the number of referrals you would like to print is correct, and choose the Print button.

Note: Ocean can only print a maximum of 100 referrals at one time.

  • If you have more than 100 referrals listed, you'll be prompted with the following Error window. Click OK. Refine your filters as outlined in step C, to generate a list of under 100 referrals, and try again.
  • After selecting Print, a new window with a single generated PDF of all the referrals listed will appear. Choose the print button to print the full PDF.

What Health Service Categories are available for eConsults and/or eReferrals?

When setting up a listing, that has been claimed to your site, one of the key steps will be to add the Health Service Categories provided by the listing. Each category should be listed separately to allow consult and/or referral senders to locate you better on the Ocean Healthmap.

Health Service Categories can be added or removed at any time from a listing. These changes are made in the Admin Settings page in the Ocean Portal, by clicking Directory Listings. The table below outlines all the categories that are currently available in Ocean. If you have customized eForms, the Health Service Reference column may be helpful for form programming or back-end analytic work.

If your health service is not listed below, try searching for it directly in the map-based directory. You may find that Ocean links you to one of the health services below using one of the stored synonyms or keywords.

If you are unable to locate a direct match or synonym, you will likely be able to locate a similar or generalized version of your health service category in the list below.

Note that once you have added a health service category with one of Ocean's standard health service categories, you can assign a custom title to the offering to provide more context (such as renaming your category's title from "Ultrasound" to "Ultrasound - Abdomen").

Health Service Name Health Service ID
Abnormal Pregnancy Screening Support

ABNORMAL_PREGNANCY_SCREENING_SUPPORT

Acupuncture ACUPUNCTURE
Acquired Brain Injury ACQUIRED_BRAIN_INJURY
Addictions Assessment & Referral ADDICTIONS_ASSESSMENT_AND_REFERRAL
Adolescent Medicine ADOLESCENT_MEDICINE
Adoption Support ADOPTION_SUPPORT
Adult Day Program ADULT_DAY_PROGRAM
Adult Intensive Services ADULT_INTENSIVE_SERVICES
Adverse Event Following Immunization AEFI
Alcoholic Support Groups ALCOHOLIC_SUPPORT_GROUPS
Allergy and Immunology ALLERGY_AND_IMMUNOLOGY
Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring AMBULATORY_BP
Amputee Services AMPUTEE_SERVICES
Anger Disorders ANGER_DISORDERS
Arthritis Services ARTHRITIS_SERVICES
ADHD Services ADHD_SERVICES
Anaesthesia ANAESTHESIA
Aquafit Programs AQUAFIT_PROGRAMS
Arterial Blood Gases ARTERIAL_BLOOD_GASES
Assistive Equipment ASSISTIVE_EQUIPMENT
Asthma Education ASTHMA_EDUCATION
Augmentative Communication AUGMENTATIVE_COMMUNICATION
Autism Spectrum Disorder Services AUTISM_SPECTRUM_DISORDER_SERVICES
Arterial Segmental Pressures ABI
Assisted Dying Inquiry Support ASSISTED_DYING_INQUIRY_SUPPORT
Audiology AUDIOLOGY
Back Pain BACK_PAIN
Back - Epidural Steroid Injection BACK_EPIDURAL_STEROID
Back - Prolotherapy BACK_PROLOTHERAPY
Bariatric Surgery BARIATRIC_SURGERY
Bereavement Support BEREAVEMENT_SUPPORT
Biophysical Profile BIOPHYSICAL_PROFILE
Family Planning BIRTH_CONTROL
Blindness or Low Vision Rehabilitation BLIND_OR_LOW_VISION_REHABILITATION
Blood Donor Clinic BLOOD_DONOR_CLINIC
Bone Mineral Density BONE_MINERAL_DENSITY
Bone Scan BONE_SCAN
Bone Marrow Aspiration BONE_MARROW_ASPIRATION
Botox Injections BOTOX
Botox Injections - Cervical Dystonia BOTOX_CERVICAL_DYSTONIA
Bracing BRACING
Breastfeeding Support Services BREASTFEEDING
Breast Clinic BREAST_CLINIC
Breast Ultrasound BREAST_ULTRASOUND
Bronchial Challenge BRONCHIAL_CHALLENGE
Bronchoscopy BRONCHOSCOPY
Supervised Exercise Rehabilitation - Cardiovascular CARDIAC_REHAB
Cardiac Stress Testing CARDIAC_STRESS_TESTING
Cardiology CARDIOLOGY
Cardiology Services CARDIOLOGY_SERVICES
Cardiovascular Surgery CARDIOVASCULAR_SURGERY
Care Coordination CARE_COORDINATION
Cataract Care CATARACT_CARE
Cataract Surgery CATARACT_SURGERY
Central Venous Catheter Insertion CENTRAL_VENOUS_CATHETER_INSERTION
Children's Aid CHILDRENS_AID
Circumcision CIRCUMCISION
Community Health Centre COMMUNITY_HEALTH_CENTRE
Concussion Management CONCUSSION_MANAGEMENT
Core Needle Biopsy CORE_NEEDLE_BIOPSY
Child Development Service Navigation CHILD_DEVELOPMENT_SERVICE_NAVIGATION
Chiropractic CHIROPRACTIC
Chronic Disease Self-Management CHRONIC_DISEASE_SELF_MANAGEMENT
Chronic Pain Self-Management CHRONIC_PAIN_SELF_MANAGEMENT
Colonoscopy COLONOSCOPY
Colorectal Screening COLORECTAL_SCREENING
Compounding Pharmacy COMPOUNDING_PHARMACY
Community Support Services COMMUNITY_SUPPORT_SERVICES
Convalescent Care CONVALESCENT_CARE
Cord Blood Services CORD_BLOOD_SERVICES
Cosmetics COSMETICS
Cosmetic Surgery COSMETIC_SURGERY
Counseling COUNSELING
Colposcopy COLPOSCOPY
CSSP CENTRALIZED_SURGICAL_SERVICES_PROGRAM
CT CT
Cystoscopy CYSTOSCOPY
Dementia Support Services DEMENTIA_SUPPORT
Dental Hygiene DENTAL_HYGIENE
Dentistry DENTISTRY
Dentistry (Subsidized or Free) DENTISTRY_LOW_COST
Dental Surgery DENTAL_SURGERY
Dermatology DERMATOLOGY
Developmental and Disability Services DEVELOPMENTAL_AND_DISABILITY
Diabetes Education DIABETES_EDUCATION
Diabetes Specialist Management DIABETES_SPECIALIST_MANAGEMENT
Diabetes Self-Management DIABETES_SELF_MANAGEMENT
Diagnostic Imaging DIAGNOSTIC_IMAGING
Dietitian / Nutrition DIETITIAN
Driving Services DRIVING_SERVICES
Drug Safety Testing DRUG_SAFETY_TESTING
Early Pregnancy Loss EARLY_PREGNANCY_LOSS
Early Psychosis Intervention EARLY_PSYCHOSIS_INTERVENTION
Eating Disorders EATING_DISORDERS_PROGRAM
ECG ECG
Echocardiogram ECHOCARDIOGRAM
EEG EEG
EMG EMG
Emergency Department EMERGENCY_DEPARTMENT
Emergency Medicine EMERGENCY_MEDICINE
Emergency Shelter EMERGENCY_SHELTER
Endocrinology ENDOCRINOLOGY
End-of-life care END_OF_LIFE_CARE
Endometrial Biopsy ENDOMETRIAL_BIOPSY
Endoscopy ENDOSCOPY
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) ERCP
Exercise Oximetry EXERCISE_OXIMETRY
Falls Prevention FALLS_PREVENTION
Family Medicine FAMILY_MEDICINE
Family Services FAMILY_SERVICES
FASD Services FASD_SERVICES
Feeding Services FEEDING_SERVICES
Fertility FERTILITY
Fibromyalgia FIBROMYALGIA
Fine Needle Aspiration FINE_NEEDLE_ASPIRATION
FIT-Positive Testing FIT_POSITIVE_TESTING
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy FLEXIBLE_SIGMOIDOSCOPY
Fluoroscopy FLUOROSCOPY
Foot Care Self-Management FOOTCARE_SELF_MANAGEMENT
Foot Care Nursing FOOTCARE_NURSING
Forensics FORENSICS
Forensic Psychiatry FORENSIC_PSYCHIATRY
Fracture Clinic FRACTURE_CLINIC
Friendly Visiting FRIENDLY_VISITING
Gastroenterology GASTROENTEROLOGY
Gastric Emptying Study GASTRIC_EMPTYING_STUDY
Gambling Addiction Assistance GAMBLING_ADDICTION_ASSISTANCE
Gender Services GENDER_SERVICES
Genetics GENETICS
Genitourinary Surgery GENITOURINARY_SURGERY
Geriatrics GERIATRICS
Geriatric Behaviour GERIATRIC_BEHAVIOUR
Geriatric Medicine GERIATRIC_MEDICINE
Geriatric Medicine Risk Consultation GERIATRIC_MEDICINE_RISK_CONSULTATION
Geriatric Psychiatry GERIATRIC_PSYCHIATRY
Geriatric Mental Health GERIATRIC_MENTAL_HEALTH
Government Service Office GOVERNMENT_SERVICE_OFFICE
Group Dining GROUP_DINING
Group Exercise/Fitness GROUP_EXERCISE_AND_FITNESS
Gynecology GYNECOLOGY
Gynecologic Oncology GYNECOLOGIC_ONCOLOGY
Hair Removal HAIR_REMOVAL
Headache Medicine HEADACHE_MEDICINE
Healthcare Navigation Service HEALTHCARE_NAVIGATION_SERVICE
Health Education Class HEALTH_EDUCATION_CLASSES
Health Education Class - Stroke HEALTH_EDUCATION_CLASSES_STROKE
Health Education Class - Posture HEALTH_EDUCATION_CLASSES_POSTURE
Hearing Loss/Deaf Support HEARING_LOSS_OR_DEAF_SUPPORT
Hematology HEMATOLOGY
Hepatology HEPATOLOGY
Hernia Repair HERNIA_REPAIR
HIV Medicine HIV_MEDICINE
Ambulatory ECG Monitoring HOLTER_MONITORING
Home Healthcare Products HOME_HEALTHCARE
Home Maintenance & Repair HOME_MAINTENANCE_AND_REPAIR
Homecare Services HOMECARE_SERVICES
Home and Community Care HOME_AND_COMMUNITY_CARE
Hospice HOSPICE
Hospital HOSPITAL
Hospital Medicine HOSPITALIST
Housekeeping HOUSEKEEPING
Housing and Homelessness Services HOUSING_AND_HOMELESSNESS_SERVICES
Hydrotherapy HYDROTHERAPY
Hyperbaric Therapy HYPERBARIC_THERAPY
Imaging-Guided Needle Biopsy IMAGING_GUIDED_NEEDLE_BIOPSY
Immunization Clinic IMMUNIZATION_CLINIC
Independent Living Skills Training INDEPENDENT_LIVING_SKILLS_TRAINING
Infectious Disease INFECTIOUS_DISEASE
Internal Medicine INTERNAL_MEDICINE
Intensive Care Medicine INTENSIVE_CARE_MEDICINE
Intensive Geriatric Service Worker INTENSIVE_GERIATRIC_SERVICE_WORKER
Intramuscular Stimulation INTRAMUSCULAR_STIMULATION
Intravenous Iron Therapy INTRAVENOUS_IRON_THERAPY
Intrauterine Device Insertion (IUD) IUD
Laboratory LABORATORY
Lactation Consultant LACTATION_CONSULTANT
Laser Eye Surgery LASER_EYE_SURGERY
Laser Services LASER_SERVICES
Laser Hair Removal LASER_HAIR_REMOVAL
Laser Tattoo Removal LASER_TATTOO_REMOVAL
Laser Wart Removal LASER_WART_REMOVAL
Long Term Care Assessment LONG_TERM_CARE_ASSESSMENT
Lumbar Puncture LUMBAR_PUNCTURE
Legal Services LEGAL_SERVICES
Liquid Nitrogen LIQUID_NITROGEN
Lower Limb Services, Chiropody or Podiatry LLS_CHIROPODY_PODIATRY
Long-Term Care Home LONG_TERM_CARE
Low Back Pain LOW_BACK_PAIN
Mammography MAMMOGRAPHY
Massage Therapy MASSAGE_THERAPY
Maternal Fetal Medicine MATERNAL_FETAL_MEDICINE
Meal Services MEAL_SERVICES
Medical Marijuana MEDICAL_MARIJUANA
Medical Microbiology MEDICAL_MICROBIOLOGY
Medical Biochemistry MEDICAL_BIOCHEMISTRY
Memory Clinic MEMORY_CLINIC
Men's Health MENS_HEALTH
Mental Health Assessment & Referral MENTAL_HEALTH_ASSESSMENT_AND_REFERRAL
Midwifery MIDWIFERY
Miscellaneous MISCELLANEOUS
Minor Surgical Procedures MINOR_SURGICAL_PROCEDURES
Mobility Services MOBILITY_SERVICES
Mood Disorder and Anxiety MOOD_DISORDER_AND_ANXIETY_SUPPORT_GROUP
MRI MRI
MUGA Scan MUGA
Multi-Disciplinary Assessment and Management - Adult MULTI_DISCIPLINARY_ASSESSMENT_AND_MANAGEMENT_ADULT
Multi-Disciplinary Assessment and Management - Pediatric MULTI_DISCIPLINARY_ASSESSMENT_AND_MANAGEMENT_PEDIATRIC
Multi-Use Recreation Centre MULTI_USE_RECREATION_CENTRE
Multiple Sclerosis MULTIPLE_SCLEROSIS
Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation MUSCULOSKELETAL_REHAB
Myocardial Perfusion Study MYOCARDIAL_PERFUSION_STUDY
Naturopathy NATUROPATHY
Neonatology NEONATOLOGY
Nephrology NEPHROLOGY
Neurology NEUROLOGY
Neurology Services NEUROLOGY_SERVICES
Neuropsychology NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
Neuroradiology NEURORADIOLOGY
Neurorehabilitation NEUROREHABILITATION
Neurosurgery NEUROSURGERY
Nerve Block NERVE_BLOCK
Nuclear Medicine NUCLEAR_MEDICINE
Nurse Practitioner NURSE_PRACTITIONER
Nursing NURSING
Nutritional Counseling Workshop NUTRITIONAL_COUNSELING_WORKSHOP
Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) OBSP
Obstetrics OBSTETRICS
Obstetrical 3D Ultrasound OBSTETRICAL_3D_ULTRASOUND
Obstetrical Ultrasound OBSTETRICAL_ULTRASOUND
Occupational Health Clinic OCCUPATIONAL_HEALTH
Occupational Medicine OCCUPATIONAL_MEDICINE
Occupational Therapy OCCUPATIONAL_THERAPY
OMF Surgery OMF_SURGERY
Medical Oncology ONCOLOGY
Ontario eConsult ONTARIO_ECONSULT
Ophthalmology OPHTHALMOLOGY
Optometry OPTOMETRY
Orofacial Medicine OROFACIAL_MEDICINE
Orthopedics ORTHOPEDICS
Orthopedics: Elbow ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_ELBOW
Orthopedics: Foot & Ankle ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_FOOT_AND_ANKLE
Orthopedics: Hand ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_HAND
Orthopedics: Hip ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_HIP
Orthopedics: Knee ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_KNEE
Orthopedics: Shoulder ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_SHOULDER
Orthopedics: Spine ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_SPINE
Orthopedics: Wrist ORTHOPEDIC_SURGEON_WRIST
Orthotics ORTHOTICS
Orthodontics ORTHODONTICS
Osteopathy OSTEOPATHY
Otolaryngology OTOLARYNGOLOGY
Pain Management PAIN_MANAGEMENT
Paracentesis PARACENTESIS
Palliative Care Specialist PALLIATIVE_CARE
Palliative Care Services PALLIATIVE_CARE_SERVICES
Palliative Community Physician PALLIATIVE_COMMUNITY_PHYSICIAN
Palliative Homecare PALLIATIVE_HOMECARE
Pap Testing PAP_TESTING
Pathology PATHOLOGY
Patient Self-Advocacy Counseling PATIENT_SELF_ADVOCACY_COUNSELING
Pediatric Allergy PEDIATRIC_ALLERGY
Pediatric Cardiology PEDIATRIC_CARDIOLOGY
Pediatric Cleft Lip and Palate PEDIATRIC_CLEFT_LIP_PALATE
Pediatric Dentistry PEDIATRIC_DENTISTRY
Pediatric Dermatology PEDIATRIC_DERMATOLOGY
Pediatric Developmental PEDIATRIC_DEVELOPMENTAL
Pediatric Emergency Medicine PEDIATRIC_EMERGENCY
Pediatric Endocrinology PEDIATRIC_ENDOCRINOLOGY
Pediatric Gastroenterology PEDIATRIC_GASTROENTEROLOGY
Pediatric Hematology PEDIATRIC_HEMATOLOGY
Pediatric Infectious Disease PEDIATRIC_INFECTIOUS_DISEASE
Pediatric Laboratory PEDIATRIC_LABORATORY
Pediatric Nephrology PEDIATRIC_NEPHROLOGY
Pediatric Neurology PEDIATRIC_NEUROLOGY
Pediatric Neurosurgery PEDIATRIC_NEUROSURGERY
Pediatric OMF PEDIATRIC_OMF
Pediatric Oncology PEDIATRIC_ONCOLOGY
Pediatric Ophthalmology PEDIATRIC_OPHTHALMOLOGY
Pediatric Orthopedics PEDIATRIC_ORTHOPEDICS
Pediatric Otolaryngology PEDIATRIC_OTOLARYNGOLOGY
Pediatric Plastic Surgery PEDIATRIC_PLASTIC_SURGERY
Pediatric Primary Care PEDIATRIC_PRIMARY_CARE
Pediatric Psychiatry PEDIATRIC_PSYCHIATRY
Pediatric Psychology PEDIATRIC_PSYCHOLOGY
Pediatric Radiology PEDIATRIC_RADIOLOGY
Pediatric Respirology PEDIATRIC_RESPIROLOGY
Pediatric Rheumatology PEDIATRIC_RHEUMATOLOGY
Pediatric General Surgery / Thoracic PEDIATRIC_SURGERY
Pediatric Urology PEDIATRIC_UROLOGY
Pediatrics PEDIATRICS
Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy PELVIC_FLOOR_PHYSIOTHERAPY
Periocular Lesions PERIOCULAR_LESIONS
Periodontistry PERIODONTIST
Personal Care PERSONAL_CARE
PET Scan PET_SCAN
Pharmacy PHARMACY
Pharmacist PHARMACIST
Physiotherapy PHYSIOTHERAPY
Physiatry PHYSIATRY
Plastic Surgery PLASTIC_SURGERY
Postnatal Care POSTNATAL_CARE
Pregnancy Counseling PREGNANCY_COUNSELING
Prenatal Care PRENATAL_CARE
Prenatal Screening PRENATAL_SCREENING
Preoperative Clinic PREOPERATIVE_CLINIC
Psychiatry PSYCHIATRY
Psychology PSYCHOLOGY
Psychotic Disorders PSYCHOTIC_DISORDERS
Public Health PUBLIC_HEALTH
Pulmonary Function Testing PULMONARY_FUNCTION_TESTING
Radiation Oncology RADIATION_ONCOLOGY
Radiology RADIOLOGY
Radiofrequency Ablation RADIOFREQUENCY_ABLATION
Refugee Care REFUGEE_CARE
Registered Psychotherapy REGISTERED_PSYCHOTHERAPY
Remote Patient Monitoring REMOTE_PATIENT_MONITORING
Respiratory Therapy RESPIRATORY_THERAPY
Respirology RESPIROLOGY
Respirology Services RESPIROLOGY_SERVICES
Respite Care RESPITE_CARE
Retina Care RETINA_CARE
Rheumatology RHEUMATOLOGY
Rides & Transportation RIDES_AND_TRANSPORTATION
rTMS RTMS
School Psychology SCHOOL_PSYCHOLOGY
Senior Community Centre SENIOR_COMMUNITY_CENTRE
Seniors Gentle Exercise Class SENIOR_EXERCISE
Seniors Gentle Exercise (In-Home) SENIOR_EXERCISE_IN_HOME
Sex/Love Addiction Counseling SEX_AND_LOVE_ADDICTION_ASSISTANCE
Sexual Health SEXUAL_HEALTH_THERAPY
Sexual Abuse Treatment SEXUAL_ABUSE_TREATMENT
Sexual Behaviours SEXUAL_BEHAVIOURS
Shopping Assistance SHOPPING_ASSISTANCE
Specialty Drug Patient Support Program SPECIALTY_DRUG_PATIENT_SUPPORT_PROGRAM
Spinal Cord Injury Support SPINAL_CORD_INJURY
Spine Assessment Clinic SPINE_ASSESSMENT_CLINIC
Spirometry SPIROMETRY
Supervised Rehabilitation Exercise SUPERVISED_REHABILITATION_EXERCISE
Supervised Rehabilitation Exercise - Diabetes SUPERVISED_REHABILITATION_EXERCISE_DIABETES
Supervised Rehabilitation Exercise - Neurological SUPERVISED_REHABILITATION_EXERCISE_NEUROLOGICAL
Supervised Rehabilitation Exercise - General Fitness SUPERVISED_REHABILITATION_EXERCISE_GENERAL_FITNESS
Supervised Rehabilitation Exercise - Chronic Disease SUPERVISED_REHABILITATION_EXERCISE_CHRONIC_DISEASE
STI Clinic STI_CLINIC
Sleep Medicine SLEEP_MEDICINE
Small Bowel Follow-Through SMALL_BOWEL_FOLLOW_THROUGH
Smoking Cessation Therapy SMOKING_CESSATION
Social Work SOCIAL_WORK
Sonohysterogram SONOHYSTEROGRAM
Spasticity Management SPASTICITY_MANAGEMENT
Speech Therapy / Speech Language Pathology SPEECH_THERAPY
Spiritual Care SPIRITUAL_CARE
Sport Therapy SPORT_THERAPY
Sports Medicine Specialist SPORTS_MEDICINE_SPECIALIST
Stroke Care STROKE_CARE
Substance Use Disorders ADDICTIONS
Supplies Delivery SUPPLIES_DELIVERY
Support Group SUPPORT_GROUP
Supportive Housing SUPPORTIVE_HOUSING
General Surgery SURGERY
Surgery: Biopsy SURGICAL_BIOPSY
Surgery: Brachial Plexus SURGERY_BRACHIAL_PLEXUS
Surgery: Cervical Spine SURGERY_CERVICAL_SPINE
Surgery: Brain SURGERY_BRAIN
Surgery: Colorectal SURGERY_COLORECTAL
Surgery: Lumbosacral Spine SURGERY_LUMBAR_SPINE
Surgery: Thoracic Outlet Syndrome SURGERY_THORACIC_OUTLET_SYNDROME
Surgery: Thoracic Spine SURGERY_THORACIC_SPINE
Surgery: Ankle SURGERY_ANKLE
Surgery: Ankle - Total Arthroplasty SURGERY_ANKLE_TOTAL_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Ankle - LCL SURGERY_ANKLE_LCL
Surgery: Elbow SURGERY_ELBOW
Surgery: Wrist SURGERY_WRIST
Surgery: Wrist - Osteotomy SURGERY_WRIST_OSTEOTOMY
Surgery: Wrist - De Quervain's Tenosynovitis Repair SURGERY_WRIST_DE_QUERVAINS
Surgery: Elbow - Total Arthroplasty SURGERY_ELBOW_TOTAL_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Tennis Elbow SURGERY_TENNIS_ELBOW
Surgery: Foot SURGERY_FOOT
Surgery: Foot - Bunion SURGERY_FOOT_BUNION
Surgery: Foot - Hammertoe SURGERY_FOOT_HAMMERTOE
Surgery: Foot - Metatarsophalangeal Arthroplasty SURGERY_FOOT_MTP_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Hand SURGERY_HAND
Surgery: Hand - Dupuytren's Contracture SURGERY_HAND_DUPUYTRENS
Surgery: Hand - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome SURGERY_HAND_CARPAL_TUNNEL
Surgery: Hand - Trigger Finger Release SURGERY_HAND_TRIGGER_FINGER_RELEASE
Surgery: Hand - Small Joint Arthroplasty SURGERY_HAND_SMALL_JOINT_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Hip - Total Arthroplasty SURGERY_HIP_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Knee - ACL Reconstruction SURGERY_KNEE_ACL
Surgery: Knee - LCL Reconstruction SURGERY_KNEE_LCL
Surgery: Knee - Arthroscopy SURGERY_KNEE_ARTHROSCOPY
Surgery: Knee - Total Arthroplasty SURGERY_KNEE_TOTAL_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Shoulder - Arthroscopy SURGERY_SHOULDER_ARTHROSCOPY
Surgery: Shoulder - Open Repair Rotator Cuff SURGERY_SHOULDER_OPEN_REPAIR_ROTATOR_CUFF
Surgery: Shoulder - Total Arthroplasty SURGERY_SHOULDER_TOTAL_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgery: Shoulder - Total Reverse Arthroplasty SURGERY_TOTAL_REVERSE_ARTHROPLASTY
Surgical Oncology SURGICAL_ONCOLOGY
Telephone Reassurance & Safety Checks TELEPHONE_REASSURANCE_AND_SAFETY_CHECKS
Therapeutic/Interventional Radiology THERAPEUTIC_RADIOLOGY
Thoracic Surgery THORACIC_SURGERY
Thoracentesis THORACENTESIS
Thrombosis / DVT / VTE Care THROMBOSIS_DVT_VTE_CARE
Thyroid Biopsy THYROID_BIOPSY
Tilt Table Testing TILT_TABLE_TESTING
Tongue Tie Release TONGUE_TIE_RELEASE
Traditional Chinese Medicine TRADITIONAL_CHINESE_MEDICINE
Transfusion Medicine TRANSFUSION_MEDICINE
Transgender Services TRANSGENDER_SERVICES
Travel Medicine TRAVEL_MEDICINE
Ultrasound ULTRASOUND
Unplanned Pregnancy Support UNPLANNED_PREGNANCY_SUPPORT
Upper GI Series UPPER_GI_SERIES
Urgent Care Clinic URGENT_CARE_CLINIC
Urology UROLOGY
Urodynamic Testing URODYNAMICS
Varicose Vein Treatment VARICOSE_VEIN_TREATMENT
Vasectomy VASECTOMY
Vascular Studies VASCULAR_STUDIES
Vascular Surgery VASCULAR_SURGERY
Vocational Services VOCATIONAL_SERVICES
Walk-In Clinic WALK_IN_CLINIC
Weight Loss Clinic WEIGHT_LOSS_CLINIC
Women's Health WOMENS_HEALTH
Wound Care WOUND_CARE
X-Ray / Radiography X_RAY
Youth Shelter YOUTH_SHELTER

How do I add a catchment area to my Directory Listing on the Ocean Healthmap?

  • A catchment area can be added to your Directory Listing to allow Ocean Healthmap users to view the specific area where your services are available.

Adding a Catchment Area

To add a catchment area to your Directory Listing, navigate to your listing's settings in the Ocean Portal, and complete the steps below.

  • Within the 'Service Details' section of your Directory Listing, locate the 'Catchment Area' setting and press 'Specify...' Click the "Specify..." button next to the .
  • Click the "New Shape" button in the top right corner of the map.
  • Adjust the boundaries of the catchment area by dragging the white circles to define the shape of the area. You can move and zoom in or out of the map displayed on the screen.
  • Click "OK" when you are satisfied with the shape of your catchment area.
  • The catchment area for your Directory Listing will be updated on the Ocean Healthmap.

Using a GeoJSON file for Direct Catchment Area Import

If you use a service such as Google My Maps, you can create your own catchment areas that can be exported as GeoJSON files that can be uploaded directly into Ocean.

  • After clicking the "Specify..." button under Catchment Area, select the "Import" option.
  • A file browser will then open. Navigate to the JSON file on your computer and select the file to upload the pre-defined catchment area into Ocean
  • Review and confirm that the uploaded catchment area looks correct and then click "OK" when you are satisfied with the shape of your catchment area.
  • The catchment area for your Directory Listing will be updated on the Ocean Healthmap.

When does my referrer information get populated on an eReferral form?

Sending from the Ocean eReferral Network Sending from the EMR
  • When sending a referral directly through the Ocean Healthmap for the first time, in a specific web browser, the "Referrer Information" fields at the bottom of the referral form will be blank.
  • In the "Referrer Information" panel, there will be a "Sign In" prompt that will allow you to link the referral to your Ocean account.
  • After signing in, the referrer information fields will be populated with the clinical contact information in the "View My Account" section of your Ocean user account.
  • If this information has not yet been filled out in your Ocean account, the "Referrer Information" fields will remain blank on the referral form, even after signing in. In this case, you must fill out the information manually before sending the referral. After your first referral has been sent while signed in to Ocean, the clinical contact information will be automatically saved to your Ocean user account, from which it will be pulled for subsequent referrals.
  • If you choose not to sign in and simply type in your "Referrer Information" instead, you will get the following prompt after clicking "eRefer" to send the referral.
  • If you choose to sign in or create a new Ocean account, your referrer information will be saved to your Ocean user account, as shown above.
  • If you opt to “Enter My Email Now”, the referrer information will only be saved in this specific web browser. The referrer information that you typed in will not be saved to your Ocean account and the referral will not be linked to your Ocean account.