How to choose a clean start date

A clean start date is the date your practice begins tracking new referrals in Referral Intel.

Choosing a clear start date helps your team understand when to begin using the system consistently and keeps your referral data easier to interpret.

Short answer

Choose a start date when your team will begin entering and managing all new referrals in Referral Intel.

For many practices, this is a simple date such as the first day of the month, the first day of a new week, or the day after staff training.

Why a clean start date matters

Referral Intel becomes more useful when your data is consistent.

If some referrals are tracked in Referral Intel while others are still tracked only in spreadsheets, email, paper folders, or your practice management system, it can be harder to understand your referral trends.

A clean start date helps your team know:

  • When to begin using Referral Intel for new referrals

  • Which referrals belong in the new system

  • Which older referrals will stay in the previous system

  • When dashboard data should start being reviewed

  • When outreach and follow-up workflows should begin

What makes a good start date?

A good start date is easy for the team to remember.

Good options include:

  • The first day of the month

  • The first Monday after training

  • The day after your referral form is added to your website

  • The day your team finishes setup

  • The day your practice begins notifying referring offices about the new referral form

Avoid choosing a date when your team is short-staffed, away at training, or already overwhelmed.

Do we need to import old referrals first?

Not always.

Many practices choose to start fresh with new referrals going forward.

This is often the simplest approach because it lets your team learn the workflow without having to clean up months or years of old data.

You may still choose to import or manually enter older referrals if they are active and need follow-up.

Which older referrals should be added?

You may want to add older referrals if they are still active.

Examples include:

  • Patients who were referred but have not scheduled

  • Patients who scheduled but have not completed their first appointment

  • Patients who received a recommendation but have not scheduled care or treatment

  • Important referral sources you want to track from the beginning

  • Recent referrals that are still part of your current workflow

You do not need to add every historical referral unless your team has a specific reason to do so.

What should happen before the start date?

Before your clean start date, your practice should complete basic setup.

This may include:

  • Confirming your practice details

  • Adding locations

  • Adding providers

  • Adding team members

  • Bookmarking the practice portal

  • Sharing the portal link with approved team members

  • Setting up your referral form link

  • Adding or embedding the referral form on your website

  • Training staff on how to update referral status

What should happen on the start date?

On your start date, begin using Referral Intel as the main place to track new referrals.

Your team should:

  • Enter new referrals into Referral Intel

  • Review online referrals as they come in

  • Update referral statuses as patients move forward

  • Add manual referrals that arrive by fax, email, phone, or paper

  • Use Referral Intel to track patients who have not scheduled

  • Log outreach activity with referring providers or offices

The goal is to make Referral Intel part of the normal daily workflow.

What if referrals still come in through old channels?

That is normal.

Many practices continue to receive referrals by fax, email, phone, paper, or direct provider communication.

If a referral comes in outside your online referral form, your team can manually add it to Referral Intel.

Over time, you can encourage referring offices to use your online referral form more consistently.

When should we start reviewing dashboard data?

You can review dashboards right away, but early data may be limited.

Referral patterns become more meaningful after your team has been using Referral Intel consistently for several weeks or months.

For example:

  • New referrals can be reviewed immediately

  • Referral-to-appointment conversion becomes more useful after enough referrals have entered the system

  • Lapsed referral trends may need more time before they are meaningful

  • Year-over-year comparisons require a full year of data

Early dashboards are still useful for building habits and checking workflow consistency.

Common mistake: starting before the team is ready

Do not choose a start date before your team knows how to use the basic workflow.

At minimum, your team should know how to:

  • Access the portal

  • View a new referral

  • Manually add a referral

  • Update referral status

  • Understand which referrals should be entered

  • Know who is responsible for keeping referrals updated

A short training before launch can prevent confusion later.

Common mistake: tracking referrals in two places indefinitely

It is normal to have a transition period.

However, if your practice continues tracking referrals in multiple disconnected systems for too long, your data may become incomplete or unreliable.

Once your team is comfortable, Referral Intel should become the primary place for referral tracking.

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