Sometimes, reuniting all the relevant information in one place is one of the best ways to optimize a service or consult. Whether it is a consultation with healthcare providers or an employee referral program, the fewer questions you need to ask, the better you can manage your time.

To help with this time optimization, one of the most commonly used tools is the referral form template. With a proper document, you can collect more than just contact details and reduce the consulting time by less than half.

In this article, we will show you the main types of referral forms you can have and what should be included when creating these. Follow each step carefully to ensure an efficient document that fits your needs. 

The referral form is a document that provides all the relevant information about you and your condition to the interested party. The main reason why people create these forms is to avoid asking numerous questions every time they get referred to.

It is a common practice, especially in medical professional environments, where most clients are recurrent and frequently visit the same doctor. With the proper documentation, the doctor only needs to ask all the questions in the initial consultation. After that, they will have the medical history and can go straight to the problem in the following consultations.

Although medical referral form templates are the most common, you can create numerous other types of online referral forms. Each one serves a specific purpose.

As we mentioned, there are numerous referral forms for different business kinds and finalities. We will show you the main ones along with their purposes.

Take a look at each one to understand which one is the best for your objectives. Here are the primary referral form templates:

Medical Referral Form Template

The medical referral form is typically used by doctors and healthcare companies. These templates usually contain all the information necessary for applying for new healthcare insurance or even for consulting with a new doctor when necessary.

Some pieces of the information featured in the template might include the main information, like contact, address, etc., along with the reason for the referral and the name of the person filling the document. Although using this document as a medical history is not recommended, it can be customized for this purpose in an emergency case.

Some categories that make this possible are the diagnosis codes provided and a description of the problem. These templates must be carefully filled in to avoid any mistakes and future issues.

Social Service Referral Form Template

The referral form for social service agencies is similar to the healthcare one, except for the finality. This template also features a space dedicated to describing the reason for the referral, along with information fields for both parties.

The main difference is in the section where the person applying for the referral must consent to release information. There are also signature spaces where both parties will attest that they read and agreed to the terms and information provided.

These highly customizable referral form templates can feature specific categories, like mental health information and household details. The document's applicability and purpose will determine its outcome.

Customer Referral Template

You can also have your own template for customer referrals. This kind of template focuses more on new clients than the existing customers.

The template for this purpose will mainly feature identification categories, such as email and contact number. It can either be used for clients looking to acquire products or services from you or new providers that will sell supplies or specific services for your company.

It applies to almost any kind of business that works with products or services and can be a great way to gather emails for email marketing. Once you have these contact details, you can send vendor recommendations and other forms of marketing more easily and without extra costs.

Contractor Referral Template

It is common to see contractors getting their referral source through word of mouth, and that’s the main channel for acquiring new jobs and clients. The contractor referral form makes it easier for these businesses to prospect and achieve new clients.

You can fully customize the template to fit your needs and easily get recommendations from previous clients. It is a straightforward document that doesn’t need detailed information to work, and with the correct key information can make your volume of clients skyrocket. 

Now that you know the main types of referral forms, it is time to learn how to create quality templates that will positively impact your business. Follow each step carefully to get maximum effectiveness from your documents.

Choose the Correct Template

More than just choosing any base and editing it to fit your business, you must choose the correct template type. This ensures that your document will not only look good but also that it will feature the right categories you need.

Don’t Be Afraid to Add New Fields

Whether making a document for medical purposes or any kind of services provided, your document will most likely need some slight alterations. Don’t be afraid to add new information to the form. The more complete your document gets, the better it will be for you and your clients.

Keep It Online

When creating this kind of document, it is recommended to make it in the online form format. This way, you can easily share the built referral form with just one click.

Moreover, having it online helps encourage people to fill it, and with the right software, you can create automation to make the process even more accessible and quicker.

When it comes to the creation of these documents, you’ll find tons of options online. From known software to specialized programs, each one has its own tools and features to help you create the ideal document for your business.

Among all the options available, we highly recommend using Microsoft Word for the task. Word not only has the best tool set from all programs but is also an industry standard. This means you won’t need extra software for your business tasks and documents.

If you don’t have a Microsoft Office activation key, you can find one at RoyalCDKeys for a lower price when compared to other marketplaces. This way, you still have access to the features and save money.

If you don’t want to create your referral form from scratch, there is no problem. Here are some free templates you can download and edit using Word to fit your needs better. Make sure to choose a template that is aligned with your type of business and objective. This way, you can ensure the best results out of it.

Here are the free templates for you to use:

Template #1

Employee referral form document. Template containing all the main categories necessary for creating a complete employee referral form for any kind and size of business. 

Get this template

Template #2

Medical referral form. Document dedicated to doctors and health insurance business. Features all the categories necessary and can be edited to fit particular needs and requirements. 

Get this template

Template #3

Simple referral form template. Document featuring a minimalistic layout that can be fully customized to suit any type of business. 

Get this template

More than time savers, referral documents can become valuable documents for gathering relevant information about patients and clients. Keeping it in the online format also helps with the optimization since they can be easily shared and filled.

From the type of template you use to the information contained throughout the form, ensure everything is aligned with your business and objective with the document. Also, don’t forget to edit everything you need using Microsoft Word to provide the best results when adding new fields or automation processes.

Now that you know everything you need, it is time to start creating your referral form document. Follow all the steps above, and you’ll have a perfect form that fits your expectations and positively impacts your business.