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referral start time

ref_start_tm
general
Updated 3/30/2026

Definition

The beginning time value for a provider-to-provider patient direction. Used to track temporal information related to referral start time. This field is commonly used in electronic health records (EHR), healthcare information systems (HIS), and clinical data warehouses for referral management and reporting.

Standard Abbreviation

ref_start_tm

Category

general

Database Usage

-- Example column naming
CREATE TABLE claims (
  claim_id VARCHAR(50),
  ref_start_tm VARCHAR(100),  -- referral start time
  ...
);

-- Example in SELECT
SELECT 
  claim_id,
  ref_start_tm as referral_start_time
FROM claims;

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