A referral that stays connected to your practice
Wound care coordination for physicians should solve a specific problem: your patient needs regular wound follow-up, and logistics are getting in the way. Gateway connects the patient with a partner clinician who provides wound care at home, in a facility or in an outpatient setting. We manage the scheduling, records and follow-up around those visits.
You remain the patient’s physician. The partner clinician manages the wound within their own scope, and we coordinate how visit information gets back to your office.
When to connect a patient
Consider contacting Gateway when:
- A wound is not progressing as you expected and you want another clinical assessment
- A patient needs wound follow-up after surgery or a hospital discharge
- Mobility, transportation or caregiver limits are causing missed appointments
- A patient has moved into skilled nursing, assisted living or memory care
- A foot wound in a patient with diabetes or vascular disease needs closer monitoring between your visits
- Supply orders keep arriving late or wrong, or nobody is sure who owns the next step
You do not need to have exhausted other options first. For patients moving between settings, our continuity of care page lists what we ask for ahead of a discharge.
What Gateway coordinates after a wound care referral
Once you refer, we handle the administrative work between your office and the treating practice.
- Intake. We contact the patient or family, confirm location and care setting, and connect them with a treating practice. Availability is confirmed case by case.
- Records. We request the notes, operative reports, imaging and labs the treating clinician asks for, through an appropriate channel.
- Orders. When the treating clinician orders imaging, labs, supplies or equipment, we follow the order through scheduling, the supplier and the return of results.
- Specialist steps. If the clinician recommends vascular, podiatric, surgical or other evaluation, we help coordinate the specialist referral and keep your office informed.
- Transportation. For outpatient visits and tests, we help arrange rides with the family, facility, health plan or a transportation provider.
What stays clinical
Gateway does not practice medicine. The treating partner is responsible for assessment, diagnosis, orders, treatment decisions, documentation and medical necessity for the care they provide. You keep responsibility for the care you provide and for decisions about the patient’s other conditions.
Sometimes your plan of care and the wound clinician’s recommendations need to be reconciled, for example around a medication or a planned procedure. That is a clinician-to-clinician conversation. We can set it up, and we stay out of the clinical content. Our model page lays out the division of roles.
Communication back to your office
Tell us at referral how your practice prefers to receive information: by fax, by phone to a named staff member, or by another secure method your office uses. We pass that preference to the treating practice and follow up when something expected has not arrived. It also helps to name one contact in your office for scheduling and records questions.
Referring specialties need different things from a wound care partner. We have separate pages for primary care practices, podiatry practices and vascular and surgical practices.
How to refer a patient for wound care
- Use the referral form with your organization, name, role and direct phone number, or call 314-325-0126.
- We call you back to discuss the patient’s needs, location and care setting.
- Your office sends records to the referral fax at 314-786-7966 or by another agreed channel.
- We confirm the treating practice and the arrangements for the first visit with you and the patient.
Keep patient names and medical details out of the public web form, which is built for contact information only. Patients and families can also contact Gateway directly, with or without a referral.
Support for your own practice
Gateway also supports independent practices in Greater St. Louis and the Metro East directly. Through practice support, a practice can get access to clinical supplies and wound care products, help with billing, claims follow-up, prior-authorization tracking and credentialing, administration of care programs such as chronic care management and remote monitoring, and referral relationships across the region.
Clinical decisions, medical necessity, final coding decisions and responsibility for claims stay with your practice. To discuss what would be useful, send a note through the practice support inquiry form.
Common questions
Will I lose my patient if I refer them for wound care?
No. A referral through Gateway is for wound care, or for primary care at home when that is what you request. The partner clinician addresses the wound, and you continue as the patient’s physician for everything else. If you want to resume managing the wound yourself at some point, say so at referral and we will pass that to the treating practice.
What records should my office send?
The treating clinician decides what they need. A useful starting set is the most recent office note, a medication list, relevant labs, any vascular studies or imaging of the area, operative reports for surgical wounds, and prior wound measurements if you have them. Send them by fax or another agreed channel, not through the web form.
Who orders supplies and imaging after I refer?
Orders related to the wound are written by the treating clinician who is managing it. Gateway follows up with the supplier or imaging facility and helps get reports back to the treating team. If you have already ordered a study or a product, tell us so the treating practice knows and the work is not duplicated.
Can you confirm whether my patient’s plan will cover the visits?
No. Participation and benefits depend on the treating provider, the patient’s plan and the care needed. We can direct questions about Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial plans to the treating practice, but we cannot confirm coverage on its behalf. Patients should check with the plan and the practice before care begins.