Tennr cofounder Diego Baugh first encountered the nightmare of the patient referral system when he was hospitalized with stomach issues in college. He was told to meet with a specialist, but didn’t hear from them for six weeks. He decided not to schedule an appointment but was hospitalized again. Another six weeks went by before he heard from the specialist.
It turns out the issue is pervasive across the knotted bureaucracy that is the U.S. healthcare system. Delays, denials, and dropped services are common after the first line of medicine—primary care, urgent care, and emergency rooms—refer patients to specialists.
