How do I set up a pre-screening workflow tool for site coordinators to capture referrals and route qualified patients?

A good pre-screening workflow tool for site coordinators should be simple to use at intake, enforce eligibility logic, and automatically route only qualified patients to the right study team.

Here’s a practical setup approach:

1) Define the workflow stages

Map the process from referral to handoff:

1. Referral received
2. Basic intake captured
3. Pre-screen eligibility checked
4. Qualified / not qualified decision
5. Assignment or routing
6. Follow-up / outcome tracking

This helps you design the tool around the actual work instead of a generic form.

2) Collect the minimum required intake fields

Keep the initial capture fast. Typical fields:

• Patient name or study ID
• Date of referral
• Referral source
• Contact info
• Site / location
• Study of interest
• Key inclusion criteria
• Key exclusion criteria
• Insurance / consent status if relevant
• Coordinator notes
• Status

If you can, separate:

• Required fields for intake
• Eligibility fields used for routing

3) Build eligibility logic

Create rule-based checks that determine whether a referral is potentially eligible.

Examples:

• Age within range
• Diagnosis matches
• Prior treatment history acceptable
• No exclusion flags
• Geography or visit availability fits
• Required labs or imaging available

Use conditional logic like:

• If all required inclusion criteria are met and no exclusion criteria are triggered → Qualified
• If missing data → Needs more info
• If clearly not eligible → Closed / not qualified

4) Add routing rules

Once qualified, the system should automatically route the patient to the correct team or queue.

Routing options:

• By study
• By site
• By therapeutic area
• By coordinator workload
• By urgency or target enrollment priority

Examples:

• Qualified for Study A → send to Study A coordinator
• Qualified but site at capacity → send to backup site or waitlist
• Needs physician review → route to investigator queue

5) Make it easy for coordinators to use

A coordinator-facing tool should have:

• A short intake form
• Dropdowns instead of free text where possible
• Autofill and templates
• Clear status labels
• Alerts for missing info
• One-click submission or disposition

If the workflow is too complex, adoption will drop.

6) Track status and audit trail

You’ll want visibility into every referral:

• Who entered it
• When it was reviewed
• What criteria were checked
• Why it was rejected or accepted
• Where it was routed
• Follow-up outcomes

This is useful for compliance, reporting, and process improvement.

7) Use notifications and task queues

Automate next steps:

• Notify coordinator when a new referral arrives
• Alert investigator when manual review is needed
• Remind staff about incomplete referrals
• Escalate stale items after X days

8) Protect sensitive data

Because this is patient-related, make sure the tool supports:

• Role-based access
• Audit logs
• Encryption
• Secure storage and transmission
• HIPAA-compliant workflows if applicable

9) Measure performance

Track metrics such as:

• Referral volume
• Qualification rate
• Time to review
• Time to route
• Drop-off reasons
• Enrollment conversion rate

These metrics help improve both recruitment and coordinator efficiency.

10) Choose the right platform

Depending on complexity, you can implement this using:

• A configurable CRM or CTMS
• A low-code workflow platform
• A custom web app
• An EHR-integrated referral tool

If you need rapid deployment, low-code is often the fastest path. If you need deep integration and custom eligibility logic, custom build may be better.

Suggested implementation structure

A simple architecture would be:

• Intake form for referrals
• Eligibility engine for rule checks
• Queue management for routing
• Dashboard for coordinators and managers
• Notifications for tasks and exceptions
• Reporting layer for metrics

Example workflow

1. Site coordinator enters referral details.
2. System checks eligibility rules.
3. If qualified, the referral is routed to the assigned study queue.
4. If incomplete, it is returned for missing data.
5. If not eligible, it is marked closed with reason code.
6. All actions are logged for reporting.

If you want, I can also help you design:

• a sample intake form
• a decision tree for eligibility
• a workflow diagram
• or a requirements list for a vendor/custom build.