ReferMe helps therapists find the right provider for a client. Post what you're looking for, and therapists who fit get notified and can respond.
Developed by a licensed mental health counselor in Washington State, ReferMe was created to streamline referrals and give you valuable time back. Whether you are looking to connect a client with a new provider or you are a provider looking to get new clients, ReferMe makes connecting easy. ReferMe is dedicated to supporting fellow clinicians by delivering a simple, low-cost utility built by practitioners, for practitioners, ensuring that the equity of a person's work remains with them.
At its launch, ReferMe is for licensed therapists who refer clients to other providers, or who want referrals sent their way. ReferMe is open to therapists today; psychiatrists, bodyworkers, and other providers are coming later.
Sign up with your email or Google account and accept the Terms of Service. Then fill out your therapist profile: a license for each state you're licensed in (state, license type, and license number), and a checkbox confirming your license information is accurate.
ReferMe checks each license against that state's license lookup and marks it Verified. Requesters see which of your licenses are verified. You can be matched while a license is waiting to be checked.
The more you fill in, the better your matches. Referrals are matched using licensed states, office ZIP code, session types, payment types, insurance, competencies, modalities, populations served, identity, and languages other than English.
Anything left blank reduces the number of points that can be matched and may result in fewer matched referrals.
When you respond to a request, the requester sees your name, credentials, license, contact details, and photo. It is important to keep these current, as this information may be sent to a client.
On your Home page, click Create a Request.
The request shows an Urgent label, and emails to the matching providers start with “URGENT” so they stand out.
Yes, ReferMe is intended to support the largest community possible. The Copy Request button on your own referral request copies a plain-text version, formatted for posting in a Facebook group or sending to a colleague. It ends with a link so people can respond on ReferMe.
On other members' requests, use Invite a colleague instead. Your colleague gets an email with the request's criteria (not its description or who posted it) and an invite to join ReferMe free, and they're added to your Contacts.
When a provider responds to your referral request, an email will be sent notifying you of a response. Email frequency is set under Referral Response Notifications at the bottom of your profile. You can choose to receive one daily email of responses to your referral request, or get an email right away each time someone responds to your referral request. The daily email arrives each morning by 6 AM Pacific (9 AM Eastern), only on days with new responses to your referral request.
Responses appear under your referral request in My Requests. Each response shows the therapist's name, credentials, license, contact details, and any note they added. Mark each response to keep track: Contacted (you reached out), Not a Good Fit (they won't be offered to your client), or Referred (you passed this therapist to your client). Responses you send with Email to client are marked Referred for you.
Open Email to client under the responses to your request. Choose who to include, edit the message, and click Open in Gmail, Open in my email, or Copy email. ReferMe drafts an email listing each provider's services, populations served, payment, insurance (only your client's insurance from the request, when the provider takes it, never their full list), and contact details. You add your client's address and send it from your own email, so ReferMe never sees it.
Each email is recorded under Shared with client, and the providers in it are marked Referred. Click Mark as sent once you've sent it, and Copy for chart note for a dated summary, with license details, to paste into your own records. ReferMe's record isn't your clinical record, so keep a copy in your chart.
Mark request complete once you've sent your client their options. Other members stop seeing it, and it moves to the Completed tab of My Requests, with its responses, as a read-only record: you can view it, copy the chart note, archive it, or delete it, but nothing on it can change. Click Reopen request to make changes or get more options.
Archive closes a request and keeps it, with its responses, in the Archived tab of My Requests (also Archived Requests in the menu). Archived requests look inactive and are read-only, like completed ones. Click Reopen request to make one active again. Delete removes the request and its responses for good.
Matched Referrals in the menu lists the open requests that match your profile, and ReferMe emails you when a new one is posted. Viewing and responding to matched referrals requires membership.
Click Respond on the request and add a note if you like. The request moves to Referral Responses on your Home page. The requester is emailed about your response, right away or in their daily email, depending on their settings, and can see your name, credentials, license, email, phone, website, and photo, so they can reach out.
Click Decline. It disappears from your Matched Referrals list. The requester isn't told, and the request stays open for everyone else.
In Referral Responses, sorted by when you responded, under two tabs: Open (still active) and Closed (the requester completed or closed it). Click a request to see its details. Done with one? Click Move to closed referrals at the bottom, or Delete to remove it from your list for good. Either only changes your list: the requester still has your response.
You'll also see when the requester has contacted you, or when you've been referred: the requester shared your information with their client. Clients usually get a few options, so they may or may not reach out.
Two steps:
The therapist meets all the must-haves, and offers 67% of the competencies and modalities the request asked for (2 of 3). If a request didn't list any competencies or modalities, you'll see “Matches your profile” instead.
On responses to your own requests, the percentage counts the insurance (once, when the request is In Network and lists insurers), each modality, and each competency the request asked for. Responses are ranked by it, and each card lists what matched and what didn't. Populations, identity, and language aren't counted: everyone who responds already meets them.
Competencies count the most, then modalities. On Matched Referrals, “Best match” puts the requests that fit you most closely at the top; “Newest” sorts by date instead.
Each request says which state(s) the clinician must be licensed in, under Clinician licensed in. That's usually the client's state, and it's used when the requester leaves it blank. It can also be different or several states, for example, a student away at college or a client about to move. You're matched if you're licensed in any of them. This applies to telehealth too, since a therapist generally has to be licensed in the client's state during sessions.
If you're licensed in more than one state, add a license for each one under Licenses on your profile.
In-person requests only match therapists who see clients in person; telehealth requests only match therapists who offer telehealth. If a request is open to either, both can match.
For in-person requests, ReferMe measures the straight-line distance between the center of the request's ZIP code and the center of your office ZIP code. Offices within 25 miles match.
If a request is open to in person or telehealth, you can match either by being within 25 miles or by offering telehealth. Telehealth-only requests don't use distance at all.
Make sure your office ZIP is filled in on your profile. If it is left blank, you won't match in-person requests.
A request checks every payment type the client can use: In Network, Out of Network, and/or Sliding scale. You match if you accept any one of them. Check the ones you accept under Payment on your profile.
In Network also needs the insurance to line up: if the request lists insurers, you need to take at least one of them. A request with no payment type checked matches any payment.
Yes. Populations are grouped into Age and Life Stage, Marginalized and Intersectional Communities, Relationship Structure, and Occupational. For each group a request uses, the therapist has to serve at least one of the populations it checks there. For example, a request for Adults and Couples and partners needs a therapist who serves adults and couples. Checking two in the same group, like Young adults and Adults, means either works.
Yes. If a request asks for a provider identity (for example, CIS Female), only therapists with that identity on their profile match. If it lists several, having any one of them is enough.
Every therapist is assumed to speak English. When a request names another language the client needs (for example, Spanish or ASL), only therapists who list that language on their profile match. If it names several, speaking any one of them is enough.
When a request is posted, ReferMe emails every member who matches it and is accepting new clients or has a waitlist. Posting requests is free for everyone; receiving matches requires membership ($5/month or $55/year), or a 24-hour pass for $2.50 if you only need it for a day.
Check these on your profile and membership:
Matches also depend on what's being requested. If no one has posted a request that fits your profile yet, there won't be any referral requests to show.
Turn on Pause match emails on your profile. You'll stop getting emails about new requests that match you, but you'll still see them in Matched Referrals. It's private: other members and clients won't know. If your caseload is filling up, you can also set Accepting clients to Waitlist.
Choose Waitlist when you're mostly full but would still take the right client. You keep getting matched and recommended, and a Waitlist label shows next to your name on your responses, on your profile, and on recommendation links sent to clients, so they know an opening may not come soon.
Creating a profile and posting referral requests is always free. Seeing the requests that match your profile, getting match emails, and responding to referral requests requires a membership or a 24-hour pass.
Choose a plan on the Membership page. Payments are handled securely by Stripe.
On the Membership page, click Manage subscription to switch plans, update your card, view invoices, or cancel. If you cancel, you keep access until the end of the period you've paid for.
Your access continues while Stripe retries the payment. Update your card under Manage subscription to keep your membership going.
No. The ZIP code is used only to measure distance when a client requests in-person sessions. Requests show the city and state, never the ZIP.
No. Requests are posted anonymously, and ReferMe handles the communication.
Match emails include the request's criteria, not who posted it or its description.
Do not include any Personal Health Information about a client. Never include a client's name, contact details, diagnosis, or anything else that could identify them. Matching only uses high-level criteria: location, insurance, competency, modality, and preferences. No other client information is required to create a matching referral.
See our Privacy Statement.
Still have a question? Email support@referme.services.