What are Referral and Service Options?
Referral and Service Options allow referrers to select multiple services, programs, or sub-options during a single intake process.
✅ Key Benefits
Reduced Administrative Burden: Referral Options allow you to collect consistent information across the entire organization or a program calendar, while having the option to use different forms for different services. This ensures intake staff have all the correct information before they first connect with the client.
Ease of Reporting: Referral and Service Options do not include PHI, and therefore are automatically included in your Inbound Referral Raw Data Reports.
Data Consistency: Sometimes, a network initiative might recommend the use of specific referral options for participating organizations. Using standardized Referral Options across a network ensures that data is collected uniformly, which is critical for accurate reporting and health equity auditing.
✏️ Core Functionality and Design
Referral and Service Options function as a set of selectable choices, typically presented as a checklist or dropdown, shown to the form filler on the page before the actual referral form.
Referral Options are configured at the Calendar level, so any service within that Calendar will use the same referral options. This is a great way to collect department-wide intake information like "Have you received services from this organization before?" or "What other services are you interested in?"
Service Options function the same way as Referral Options, but are configured only for individual services. This is a great way to easily collect reportable data on specific service requests. For example:
On a Transportation service listing, use the CORE - Transportation form, and add a Service Option if you offer wheelchair accessible vehicles.
On a Meals on Wheels service listing, use the CORE - Community Support Request form, and add a checklist of specialized dietary options that the client might require, such as Puree, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low Sodium, Halal, etc.
✨ Old design vs. New design:
If you've been upgraded to our new forms module, you'll have access to our newer referral options interface. This still functions the same way and collects the same information you're used to.
🔒 The new design has security upgrades, meaning that clients can no longer enter PHI into referral options, such as dates, phone numbers, or free text fields. If you're still using the old design and need to collect text-based information, reach out to the Caredove team through the chat and we'll walk you through solution options.
🧰 How to Configure Referral Options
Navigate to Settings and select the relevant Calendar. If you don't have a Calendar set up, pop into the chat box and Caredove staff can add one for you.
Scroll past Calendar Settings, Email & Handout Settings, and Appointment Options until you reach the Referral Options section. Here you can edit existing referral options using the pen icon, or add a new one.
Select Add Referral Option. In the Option Field window, set the Type for how the option is presented on the form. Choose from Heading, Checkbox, Single Select (dropdown), or Multi-Select (checkboxes).
Field Title: Enter the question title, and add a Field Title Code. The code is a short version of the question used to identify this field in data reports. Create a code of your choosing, similar to the Field Title. Only lowercase letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores are permitted.
Required: choose "No" or "Yes" if a selection must be made before the form can be submitted.
Visibility: choose All, so the option is visible to anyone completing the form, or Office Use Only, which hides the referral option from anyone outside of your organization and is only used by staff making internal referrals.
💡 An Office Use Only option is great to collect how the internal referral was initially requested, such as a Walk-In, Phone Call, or Faxed referral.
Under Display Values and Code Values, add each selectable option:
Display Value is the text shown to the referrer.
Code Value is the reporting code for that choice, following the same formatting rules as Field Title Code.
Select "add another value" to add more choices. Use the up and down arrows on the right to reorder values, or the trash icon to remove one.
Select Save to apply your changes, or Cancel to discard them.
Scroll to the bottom of the Settings page to save your changes.
📌 Note: Because Referral Options are configured at the Calendar level, changes here apply to every service under that Calendar.
🧰 How to Configure Service Options
Service Options use the same configuration process as Referral Options, but are customizable for each specific service rather than the whole Calendar.
Navigate to Listings and select the service you want to edit.
Scroll to the Service Options section.
Select Add Service Option, or the pen icon to edit an existing one.
Configure the option using the same fields described above: Type, Field Title, Field Title Code, Required, Visibility, and Display/Code Values.
Select Save.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the service listing editor to ensure you've got the correct Referral Form, and select Save.
📌 Because Service Options live on the individual listing, they are ideal for collecting details that only matter to that one service, such as dietary requirements on a Meals on Wheels listing, or accessible vehicle needs on a Transportation listing.
❓ Need help setting up Referral or Service options? Use the chat box to reach out to a Caredove team member for support!
📊 Reporting on Referral and Service Options
Collected Referral and Service Options will automatically appear in your downloaded Inbound Referral Raw Data Reports. Follow this guide to learn how to download and interpret these reports.