Radiography Referral Coordination

---
name: radiography-referral-coordination
description: |
  Refer patients attending for medical imaging onward and coordinate with other professionals and services.
  TRIGGERS - Use when a diagnostic radiographer needs a referral & coordination for patients attending for medical imaging in an imaging department.
category: Radiography
license: MIT
version: 1.0
---
# Referral & Coordination — Radiography

Refer patients attending for medical imaging onward and coordinate with other professionals and services. The deliverable is a referral pack and a coordination log with responses tracked.
This skill is written for a diagnostic radiographer working with patients attending for medical imaging in an imaging department.

## When to use
- You are a diagnostic radiographer preparing, delivering or reviewing this part of your work in an imaging department.
- You need a defensible, repeatable approach that produces a referral pack and a coordination log with responses tracked.
- A colleague, auditor or client asks how this was done and what evidence supports it.

## Key Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| Justification | confirming an examination's benefit outweighs its radiation risk |
| Reject analysis | reviewing why images were repeated |
| ALARP | radiation dose kept as low as reasonably practicable |

## Workflow
1. **Step 1** - Confirm the referral is appropriate: what patients attending for medical imaging need that sits outside the diagnostic radiographer scope in an imaging department
2. **Step 2** - Prepare the referral from examination requests — relevant history, current status, the specific question being asked
3. **Step 3** - With consent, send the referral and log who received it and when; chase non-responses on a set schedule
4. **Step 4** - Share incoming findings back into the main record so the plan and examination waiting times stay joined up
5. **Step 5** - Close the loop with patients attending for medical imaging: explain what happens next, who owns it, and what to do if things worsen — mindful of excess radiation dose

## Profession-Specific Components
| Component | Details for Radiography |
|-----------|-------------------------------|
| Core documentation | examination requests; dose records; image quality assessments; incident reports |
| Core tools & equipment | X-ray systems; CT and MRI scanners; image processing workstations; protective equipment |
| People involved | patients attending for medical imaging; the diagnostic radiographer; colleagues and other services in an imaging department |
| Primary record | examination requests — keep it current, dated and attributable |

## Output Format
**Context:** [Situation in an imaging department] | **Objective:** [What this must achieve] | **Audience:** [patients attending for medical imaging and other stakeholders]

The finished output is a referral pack and a coordination log with responses tracked, structured as:
1. Summary of position and evidence
2. Detail, following the workflow above
3. Decisions, actions, owners and dates
4. Review point and escalation route

### Action Plan
1. **Immediate:** Confirm scope, consent and the evidence available in examination requests.
2. **Short-term:** Complete the workflow steps and record outcomes against examination waiting times.
3. **Medium-term:** Review results, close actions, and update local procedures in an imaging department.

## Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Method |
|--------|--------|--------|
| examination waiting times | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from examination requests and reviewed on a set cycle |
| image reject rate | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from examination requests and reviewed on a set cycle |
| dose compliance | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from examination requests and reviewed on a set cycle |
| report availability times | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from examination requests and reviewed on a set cycle |

## Guardrails & Quality Checks
- Never let this happen: excess radiation dose.
- Never let this happen: wrong patient imaged.
- Never let this happen: missed pregnancy checks.
- Work only within the competence and authority of a diagnostic radiographer; escalate or refer anything beyond it.
- Record facts and observations, not speculation, and keep records confidential to an imaging department's rules.
- Verify names, dates, figures and measurements twice before anything is issued or signed off.
- Use only real, verified information from the case in hand — never invent results, credentials or evidence.

## Example (illustrative)
A diagnostic radiographer in an imaging department applies this workflow for patients attending for medical imaging: they open
examination requests, work through the five steps using X-ray systems, and close by recording
the outcome against examination waiting times and agreeing the next review date. (Illustrative example only —
replace with the real details of the case in hand.)