Chapter 11: Intake & Referrals

Complete guide to the NDSS CRM Intake and Referrals module, covering the entire referral processing pipeline from initial enquiry through to client onboarding, waitlist management, service agreement generation, and referral source tracking within Newdawn Support Services.

11.1 Intake Module Overview

The Intake and Referrals module in NDSS CRM provides a structured, end-to-end pipeline for processing new participant referrals into Newdawn Support Services. From the moment a referral is received (whether via the public-facing External Referral Form, a phone enquiry logged by the intake team, or a transfer from another NDIS provider) through to full onboarding as an active client, every step is tracked, auditable, and governed by role-based access controls.

The module is designed to handle the volume and complexity of NDIS referrals, where each new participant may require multiple service types (e.g., Core Supports, Capacity Building, SIL), each with different funding categories, support ratios, and scheduling requirements. The intake pipeline ensures no referral falls through the cracks and that every participant receives a timely, thorough assessment before services commence.

11.1.1 Referral Processing Pipeline

The NDSS CRM referral pipeline consists of six primary stages. Each stage has defined entry criteria, responsible roles, required actions, and exit criteria before the referral advances to the next stage.

11.1.2 Role-Based Access for Intake

Access to the Intake and Referrals module is governed by NDSS CRM role-based access control. The following roles have access to intake functions:

11.1.3 Navigating to the Intake Module

To access the Intake and Referrals module, click Intake & Referrals in the main sidebar navigation. Users with the appropriate role will see the module icon (a clipboard with an arrow) in the sidebar under the "Operations" section. The module opens to the Referral Queue by default, which displays all active referrals sorted by date received, with the most recent referrals at the top.

11.2 External Referral Form

The External Referral Form is a public-facing web form that allows external parties (support coordinators from other organisations, hospitals, GPs, family members, NDIA Local Area Coordinators, and participants themselves) to submit referrals directly into the NDSS CRM intake pipeline. The form does not require authentication and is accessible via a unique URL assigned to each Newdawn Support Services branch or service region.

11.2.1 Form Structure

The External Referral Form is divided into four clearly labelled sections. All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. The form uses progressive disclosure, meaning certain fields only appear based on previous selections (e.g., selecting "SIL" as a service type reveals additional fields for accommodation preferences).

11.2.2 Form Configuration

Administrators can configure the External Referral Form from Admin & Settings > Intake Configuration > External Form. Configuration options include:

• Service Region Assignment: Each form URL is linked to a specific service region (e.g., Western Sydney, Inner West, Northern Beaches). Referrals submitted through the form are automatically assigned to the intake team for that region.
• Custom Fields: Administrators can add up to 10 custom fields to the referral form. Custom fields support text, dropdown, multi-select, date, and file upload types.
• Branding: The form header, logo, and colour scheme can be customised to match Newdawn Support Services branding or partner organisation branding.
• Notification Recipients: Define which intake officers receive email and in-app notifications when a new external referral is submitted.
• Auto-Acknowledgement: An automatic email is sent to the referrer confirming receipt of the referral, including a reference number and expected response timeframe.
• CAPTCHA Protection: Google reCAPTCHA v3 is enabled by default to prevent spam submissions.
• Rate Limiting: Maximum 5 submissions per IP address per hour to prevent abuse.

11.3 Referral Wizard (Internal)

The Referral Wizard is the internal referral creation tool used by NDSS CRM staff (intake officers, administrators, and coordinators) to manually create referrals. Unlike the External Referral Form, the wizard provides access to all internal fields, including risk classifications, internal notes, staff allocation preferences, and priority scoring. The wizard guides users through five sequential steps, each of which must be completed before proceeding to the next.

11.3.1 Wizard Progress Indicator

The wizard displays a persistent progress bar at the top of the form, indicating the current step and completion status. Users can navigate back to previous steps to edit information, but cannot skip forward.

11.3.2 Wizard Steps in Detail

11.3.3 Draft Saving

At any point during the wizard, users can click Save Draft to save their progress without submitting the referral. Drafts are saved automatically every 60 seconds while the wizard is active. Draft referrals appear in the Referral Queue with a Draft status badge. Drafts are retained for 30 days, after which they are automatically purged (with a 7-day warning notification sent to the assigned intake officer).

11.4 Referral Processing

Once a referral enters the pipeline (either from the External Referral Form or the internal Referral Wizard), it progresses through the stages outlined in Section 11.1. This section provides detailed instructions for processing referrals at each stage, including the actions available, status transitions, and the data captured at each point.

11.4.1 Referral Queue

The Referral Queue is the primary interface for managing active referrals. It displays all referrals in a filterable, sortable table view.

11.4.2 Status Transitions

The following table documents every valid status transition within the referral pipeline, the required conditions, and the roles authorised to perform each transition.

11.4.3 Referral Detail View

Clicking on a referral reference number in the queue opens the Referral Detail View. This screen displays all information about the referral, organised into tabbed sections. The top section shows a summary header with the participant name, NDIS number, current status, priority, assigned officer, and days since received. Below the header are the following tabs:

• Overview: Summary of participant details, referrer details, and service requirements.
• Screening: Eligibility screening checklist with pass/fail indicators for each criterion.
• Assessment: Assessment forms, assessment outcome, clinical notes (if applicable).
• Documents: All uploaded documents, organised by type (referral form, NDIS plan, consent, medical reports, assessment reports).
• Timeline: Complete chronological audit trail of every action taken on the referral, including who performed it and when.
• Notes: Internal notes visible only to staff. Each note is timestamped and attributed to the author.

11.5 Client Onboarding

Once a referral is approved and transitions to the "Onboarding" stage, the NDSS CRM onboarding workflow guides coordinators through a comprehensive checklist of tasks that must be completed before the participant becomes an active client. The onboarding checklist ensures that all administrative, legal, clinical, and operational requirements are met before service delivery begins.

11.5.1 Onboarding Checklist

The onboarding checklist is displayed as an interactive task list within the referral detail view. Each item has a checkbox, a description, a responsible role, and a due date. Items can be completed in any order, but all mandatory items must be completed before the referral can be transitioned to "Active Client" status.

11.5.2 Document Collection

The onboarding process requires collecting and verifying a set of documents from the participant or their nominee. NDSS CRM tracks the status of each required document.

11.5.3 Consent Forms

NDSS CRM supports both digital and physical consent form workflows. For digital consent, the system generates a pre-filled consent form (PDF) that can be sent via email to the participant or nominee for electronic signature. The e-signature feature uses a typed signature field (full legal name) combined with a date stamp and IP address log for audit purposes. For physical consent, a blank form can be downloaded, printed, signed in person, and scanned back into the system.

All consent forms are versioned. When a consent form template is updated by an administrator, existing signed consents are retained, and participants are prompted to sign the updated version during their next service agreement review.

11.6 Waitlist Management

When a referral passes screening but Newdawn Support Services does not have the capacity to commence services immediately, the referral is placed on the Waitlist. The Waitlist module provides a structured queue management system with priority scoring, capacity planning tools, and automated re-engagement notifications.

11.6.1 Waitlist Queue

The Waitlist is displayed as a prioritised list, sorted by priority score (highest first), then by date added (oldest first within the same priority level).

11.6.2 Priority Scoring

NDSS CRM uses a weighted priority scoring system (0 to 100 scale) to determine waitlist order. The score is calculated automatically based on configurable criteria, though managers can manually override the score when circumstances warrant. The default scoring criteria are:

11.6.3 Capacity Planning

The Capacity Planning view within the Waitlist module provides managers with a forecast of when capacity will become available for each service type and region. The system analyses current staff rosters, upcoming staff leave, projected client discharges, and pending onboardings to estimate capacity openings. This information is displayed as a colour-coded calendar view and a summary table showing available slots per service category over the next 30, 60, and 90 days.

11.6.4 Automated Re-Engagement

NDSS CRM automatically sends re-engagement communications to waitlisted participants at configurable intervals (default: every 14 days). These communications confirm the participant's continued interest in services and update their contact details if changed. If a participant does not respond to three consecutive re-engagement attempts, their referral is flagged for manual review by the intake officer, who can then contact the participant directly or close the referral as withdrawn.

11.7 Service Agreements

Before service delivery can commence for any new participant, a Service Agreement must be generated, reviewed, and signed by both parties (Newdawn Support Services and the participant or their nominee). NDSS CRM automates the generation of service agreements based on the referral data and provides a structured signing workflow.

11.7.1 Agreement Generation

Service agreements are generated from configurable templates maintained in Admin & Settings > Templates > Service Agreements. When the "Generate Service Agreement" button is clicked during the onboarding process, NDSS CRM automatically populates the template with the following data from the referral and NDIS plan:

• Participant details: Full name, NDIS number, date of birth, address, contact information.
• Nominee/guardian details: Name, relationship, contact information (if applicable).
• Service details: Each funded service category, the NDIS line item code, unit price, estimated hours per week, support ratio, and total estimated annual cost.
• Funding details: Funding type (Plan Managed, Self Managed, NDIA Managed), plan manager contact details (if applicable), plan start and end dates.
• Service schedule: Preferred days, times, and locations for service delivery.
• Terms and conditions: Cancellation policy (in accordance with NDIS pricing arrangements), complaints process, incident reporting obligations, privacy commitments, and agreement review schedule.
• Fees and charges: Itemised table of all NDIS line items, rates, and estimated costs aligned to the NDIS Price Guide for the current financial year.

11.7.2 Signing Workflow

The service agreement signing workflow in NDSS CRM follows a defined sequence:

1. Draft: Agreement generated and saved as a draft. Coordinator reviews all auto-populated fields for accuracy.
2. Internal Review: Agreement sent to a manager for internal review and approval. Manager can request edits or approve.
3. Sent for Signing: Approved agreement sent to the participant or nominee via email. The email contains a secure link to view and sign the agreement electronically.
4. Participant Signed: Participant or nominee reviews and signs the agreement digitally. The signature is captured with full name, date, and IP address.
5. Countersigned: An authorised Newdawn Support Services representative countersigns the agreement. This is typically the service manager or branch manager.
6. Executed: Both signatures captured. Agreement marked as executed. PDF copy generated and stored in the client's document vault. Copies sent to participant, nominee, and plan manager (if applicable).

11.8 Referral Sources

NDSS CRM tracks the origin of every referral to enable reporting on referral sources, measure the effectiveness of outreach activities, and manage relationships with referring organisations. The Referral Sources module provides a central registry of all referral sources along with analytics on referral volume, conversion rates, and average time-to-onboard per source.

11.8.1 Source Categories

Each referral is assigned to one of the following source categories when it is created:

11.8.2 Referrer Management

NDSS CRM maintains a Referrer Directory accessible from Intake & Referrals > Referral Sources > Referrer Directory. This directory stores contact details and referral history for every individual or organisation that has referred participants to Newdawn Support Services. Each referrer record includes:

• Contact Details: Name, organisation, role, phone, email, address.
• Referral History: Total referrals submitted, referrals by status (approved, declined, waitlisted, withdrawn), referral conversion rate.
• Average Quality Score: Each referral is scored on completeness (0 to 100) based on how many required fields were filled in and how many supporting documents were attached. The average quality score for a referrer is displayed on their profile.
• Last Activity: Date of the most recent referral submitted by this referrer.
• Notes: Internal notes about the referrer, relationship management notes, preferred contact method, and any relevant context.

11.8.3 Referral Analytics

The Referral Analytics dashboard provides insight into referral trends and pipeline performance. Key metrics available include:

• Referrals by Source: Bar chart showing referral volume by source category for a selected date range.
• Conversion Rate by Source: Percentage of referrals that reached "Active Client" status, broken down by referral source.
• Average Time-to-Onboard: Average number of business days from referral receipt to active client status, segmented by service type and region.
• Pipeline Funnel: Visual funnel chart showing the number of referrals at each pipeline stage.
• Monthly Referral Volume: Line chart showing referral volume trends over the past 12 months.
• SLA Compliance Rate: Percentage of referrals processed within SLA timeframes at each pipeline stage.
• Decline/Withdrawal Analysis: Breakdown of decline and withdrawal reasons by category.