County staff outline plans to pilot Iris referral tool for community providers

A board member described Iris, an online bidirectional referral tool some counties use to streamline referrals among community service providers, and said Grundy County is considering a pilot and a standardized consent form.

The board member (name not specified in the transcript) described Iris as "an online bidirectional referral tool that streamlines communication between community providers offering services to individuals and families." The presenter said Iris is currently used by several neighboring counties and that adoption would primarily cover nonhospital community providers (for example, nonprofits such as We Care). The presenter noted the tool is no cost to the county and would require a standardized consent form for clients to authorize sharing of their information; if a client does not consent, staff would provide a written referral instead.

Board members asked about whether hospitals and private physicians would be included. The presenter said hospital systems typically have their own referral systems and that Iris is aimed largely at community non-profit providers; staff expect to receive more information at the board's next meeting in May.

Nut graf: Iris is being considered as a county-wide referral-tracking tool for community providers to improve continuity of care and feedback on referrals; staff emphasized consent procedures and that hospitals may continue to use existing systems.

The board did not vote on adopting Iris during this meeting; staff said they will bring additional information and a proposed consent form to a future meeting.