In March 2023, Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health launched a new intake model for managing and coordinating referrals for surgical consults (adult and pediatric). The tool expanded in the Fall of 2023 to include adult and pediatric eReferrals for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and ultrasounds. Bone mineral density will be added as a new eReferral option on December 10, 2024. This model is supported by an electronic referral (eReferrals) tool, a surgical central intake office / centralized waitlist and diagnostic imaging provincial queue.
Teams also continue to plan for the roll-out of other diagnostic imaging services and early efforts are underway to allow gastroenterology services to be added to the specialty referral options within the eReferral tool.
The use of eReferrals became mandatory for some health care providers in April of 2024. Primary care providers and surgeons are required to use eReferrals to send and receive referrals for surgical consults and diagnostic imaging services available in the tool.
The Nova Scotia eReferral Resource Hub has been designed to support access to the eReferrals tool and its use. Learn how to make the most of this digital healthcare access tool with focused guides and training resources made for Nova Scotia's providers and their teams.
If you are a primary care provider or surgeon, select the appropriate onboarding request and complete the form to get started. You will receive a follow up communication from a deployment team member once this is complete. Other healthcare providers are not yet being onboarded to Ocean. Information will be shared as access is expanded to other healthcare providers in the future.