For coordinators and nurse navigators

How a closed loop dental clearance works

A closed loop dental clearance is one that is finished when the dentist's answer is back on your record, not when the fax goes out. The treatment date is the clock, and both sides can see it.

Why does the clock matter?

The treatment date does not move for a missing fax. In a prospective cohort, poor care coordination was the most common reason a head and neck patient missed the timely radiation window: 19 of the 46 patients who missed it. In one series, the interval from dental consultation to the start of radiation had a median of 28 days and reached 133.

Nguyen M, et al. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2025;151(12):1186, doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2025.2824. Dufresne E, et al. Spec Care Dentist 2026;46(1):e70134, doi:10.1111/scd.70134, single centre, descriptive. Neither study measured ReferralRight.

How does a case close?

1. You send it. Fill in the patient, the procedure and the date the answer is needed, then sign. It reaches the dental office by the fax or email they already use.
2. The dentist answers. They open a link, confirm the patient's date of birth and give their finding in a browser, or enter the pickup code from the fax cover sheet. Nothing to install.
3. Both sides hold the record. The answer lands on the case with the time it arrived, and both sides hold the same signed PDF.

The loop runs without an integration. A hospital that later wants it inside Epic can build the interface, but nothing waits on it.

Questions coordinators ask

What is a closed loop dental clearance?

A closed loop dental clearance is a clearance referral whose answer comes back to the sender on the same record, with the due date visible to both sides.

How do I get a patient's dental clearance back before cancer treatment starts, on time?

Put the date the answer is needed on the referral itself and have the dentist answer on the same record. With ReferralRight the dentist gets a secure link, answers in a browser, and the answer lands on the case with the time it arrived.

Who tracks whether the dentist sent the clearance back?

The record does. Every case carries four dates: referred, received, responded, and the date the answer was needed. Your team and the dental office see the same open case and who is waiting on whom, so the follow up call becomes a glance.

Does the dentist need an account or software to answer?

No. The dentist opens a link and confirms the patient's date of birth in a browser, or enters the pickup code from the fax cover sheet. There is no account to make and nothing to install.

Is a community dentist slower than a hospital dental clinic?

We have no verified figure that says a community dentist is slower. One retrospective comparison of three screening programs (J Am Dent Assoc 2025, doi:10.1016/j.adaj.2025.07.009) found no statistically significant difference in time to clearance between in-house and community dentists. We do not quote its day figures here. What a program controls is the coordination around the visit.

What does ReferralRight cost?

ReferralRight is free for patients, physicians and dentists, and nobody needs an account to send or answer a referral.

Before you send anything, the six-question handoff checklist is free to print.