PointClickCare Unveils AI to Tackle SNF Admission Bottleneck

TORONTO – January 13, 2026 – Health tech leader PointClickCare today announced its latest artificial intelligence solution, Referral Advisor, aimed at solving one of the most persistent operational hurdles in post-acute care: the slow and cumbersome patient referral process. Unveiled at the prestigious JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the new tool is designed to help skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) make faster, more informed admission decisions, a critical function in an industry grappling with staffing shortages and increasing financial pressures.

The Post-Acute Admissions Gridlock

For years, the referral intake process at SNFs has been a significant bottleneck, characterized by manual, fragmented, and error-prone workflows. When a hospital seeks to discharge a patient to a post-acute care setting, it sends a referral packet that can often exceed 70 pages of complex clinical and financial documents. Admissions coordinators must then manually sift through this data to determine if the patient is a clinical and financial fit for their facility.

This labor-intensive review creates significant delays. Industry research shows that the provider who responds first—often within 15 minutes—is most likely to receive the patient. Yet, with incomplete or variable referral packets requiring constant follow-up, this speed is nearly impossible to achieve manually. The result is a high-stakes race against the clock where delays can lead to lost admission opportunities, decreased occupancy, and strained relationships with referring hospitals eager to manage patient flow.

The problem is compounded by the severe staffing crisis across the healthcare sector. SNFs are struggling to retain administrative and clinical staff, who are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of paperwork. A single admission can take an administrative team three to four hours to process, and industry data suggests that up to 25% of all patient referrals can be lost or mismanaged in the shuffle, leading to significant revenue loss and potential gaps in patient care.

AI-Powered Automation and Insight

PointClickCare's Referral Advisor enters this challenging environment as a purpose-built AI solution. Following the launch of its Chart Advisor tool for managing clinical documentation, the company is doubling down on its strategy of leveraging AI to solve core industry problems. The new platform is designed to integrate seamlessly into the PointClickCare electronic health record (EHR), a system already widely used across the post-acute care landscape.

"The launch of Referral Advisor continues to define PointClickCare's commitment to a new era of AI-informed healthcare," said Dave Wessinger, co-founder and chief executive officer, in a statement. "Our strategy is simple: we are leveraging the extensive, high-quality data set we have built over decades to rapidly deploy AI solutions that solve our customers' biggest pain points."

Referral Advisor works by consolidating all inbound referrals and using AI to automatically extract, validate, and organize critical information. It transforms the sprawling 70-page packets into concise, actionable summaries that highlight key clinical, behavioral, and financial insights. This allows admissions teams to quickly assess a patient's suitability, eliminating hours of manual data entry and review.

"By using AI to extract, validate, and convert complex referral packets into concise, actionable insights, we are equipping SNFs to make faster, more accurate admission decisions with confidence," explained David Pessis, the company's chief product and technology officer. This confidence, he noted, is key to "maximizing occupancy and strengthening hospital relationships."

A Competitive Field and the Data Differentiator

PointClickCare is not the first to apply technology to the referral management problem. The market includes several established and emerging players, such as WellSky's CarePort, which connects a large network of hospitals and post-acute providers, and Direct Supply's pac-IQ, which also uses AI to scrub referral documents. Other specialized platforms like Sentra and Nanonets Health promise similar benefits, claiming to reduce review times from hours to minutes and automate up to 90% of manual workflows.

Where PointClickCare aims to set itself apart is through its vast, proprietary data network. The company states it has the "largest network of acute and long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) data," cultivated over two decades. This deep well of information is the engine that trains its AI models, allowing them to recognize patterns, predict outcomes, and provide nuanced insights that a newer system might miss. By building Referral Advisor directly into its market-leading EHR, PointClickCare creates a closed-loop system where data continuously enriches the AI, a significant strategic advantage.

This integration means the AI doesn't just process new documents; it can contextualize them with existing data within the EHR, providing a more holistic view of the potential admission. This deep integration is a powerful incentive for the more than 30,000 provider organizations already using the PointClickCare platform.

Reshaping Workflows and Strengthening Partnerships

The impact of a tool like Referral Advisor extends far beyond the admissions office. By automating administrative burdens, it directly addresses the burnout and strain on healthcare staff. According to some analyses, AI-driven admissions tools can reduce administrative time by over 70%, freeing up skilled employees to focus on patient-facing activities and higher-value strategic tasks. This not only improves operational efficiency but also has the potential to boost job satisfaction and staff retention.

The financial return on investment for SNFs could also be substantial. Faster, more accurate admissions lead to fewer missed opportunities and reduced empty-bed days, which can cost a facility around $450 per bed for every 24-hour delay. By surfacing financial insights and insurance eligibility upfront, the tool helps ensure that admitted patients are "right-fit," reducing the risk of denied claims and improving the overall revenue cycle.

Furthermore, the solution promises to reshape the dynamic between hospitals and SNFs. Hospitals are under immense pressure to discharge patients safely and efficiently to manage capacity. SNFs that can respond to referrals rapidly and reliably become preferred partners. By demonstrating data-driven performance and quick turnaround times, facilities using Referral Advisor can strengthen these critical relationships, ensuring a more stable pipeline of appropriate admissions and contributing to a smoother, more integrated healthcare system for patients transitioning between care settings.

The rollout of Referral Advisor, beginning with select organizations this month, marks another step in the broader industry trend of embedding intelligent automation into core healthcare operations to drive efficiency and improve care delivery.