Streamlining Referral Processing by 86%
Overview
Perlman Clinic’s referral processing system couldn’t keep up with growing patient volume. Staff faced fragmented tools, inconsistent medical group rules, and difficulty matching patients to the right specialists. I led the design of a 0 to 1 internal desktop tool from conception to launch to streamline this workflow.
My Role
As the sole UX designer, I led end-to-end design ownership from staff research through successful implementation. My key responsibilities included:
Conducted comprehensive user research and 20+ hours of shadowing the referral coordinators
Collaborated with stakeholders across marketing, PM, and development teams
Designed the complete experience that directly addressed both patient needs and business objectives.
Results
By consolidating multiple systems into a single, intuitive interface, the custom-built directory reduced referral processing time by 86%.
Perlman Clinic
4 weeks
Product Designer
Figma
85%
Faster processing
40%
Increase in accuracy
86%
Reduction in time spend
Research
Through 20+ hours of shadowing the referrals coordinators, I discovered staff frustrations went beyond just using multiple systems:
Key insight #1
Incomplete Information
Staff had to Google providers due to missing or scattered subspecialty details.
Key insight #2
Geographic Confusion
Unfamiliarity with locations led to inaccurate travel estimates and rejected referrals.
Key insight #3
Training Gaps
Each medical group had different rules and portals, making training difficult.
Problem Statement
How might we consolidate essential referral information into a single, easy-to-navigate tool?
The problem statement highlighted three key requirements: accurate subspecialty matching, geographical proximity, and formatting the information to send to the patient, all accessible within a unified interface that would reduce cognitive load and training complexity.
Wireframing
I created an impact/effort matrix to prioritize which pain points we want to solve with this project. I aligned with stakeholders (CEO and project manager) to ensure that this also fits their vision.
Then I created the wireframes where I made sure to check the stakeholders also aligned with this design. And I also met with the engineer to ensure that my designs were technically feasible.
Usability Testing
To evaluate whether the directory tool truly improved speed and accuracy, I ran 7 moderated usability tests with referral coordinators across different regions and experience levels.
Research Setup
I structured the sessions around two goals:
Understand pain points in the current workflow
Test whether the new tool improves efficiency, accuracy, and usability
Each participant completed referral scenarios using both their existing method (Epic + portals) and the new directory. I timed both workflows and asked structured questions before and after each task.
Impact Snapshot
🕐 Time Comparison
Referral time dropped from an average of 3:31 to 29 seconds
→ That’s an 86.2% reduction in task time
✅ Accuracy Boost
40% of tests found a closer or more appropriate specialist using the directory
🟢 “Saves me 3 websites”
🟢 “Love the copy button”
🟢 “Super easy”
Challenges
Prioritized for Impact
The most significant challenge was technical feasibility. We couldn't immediately integrate all eight medical groups due to API limitations and data access constraints.
So, I identified the top 3 groups causing 65% of staff pain points using stakeholder interviews and usage analytics.
We prioritized those for launch and created a roadmap for the rest.
Validated Through Iteration
To evaluate whether the directory tool truly improved speed and accuracy, I ran 7 moderated usability tests with referral coordinators across different regions and experience levels.