Transfer Center

One Step Referral Process

Simply fax or email medical records and the following information to expedite your transfer request:

• Patient Name (first and last)
• Patient Date of Birth
• Patient Current Status (Inpatient or Emergency Department)
• Requested Specialty
• Reason for Transfer
• Level of Care (ICU, Stepdown, Telemetry, MedSurg)
• Referring Hospital Name
• Case Manager Name and Contact Number
• Referring Physician Name and Contact Number

Fax: 323-442-5240 | Email: transfercenter@med.usc.edu

Reach us 24 hours a Day, 7 Days a Week

(855) USC-BEDS | (855) 872-2337

If you are referring an international patient, click here.

What is the Transfer Center?

The Transfer Center serves as a gateway for requests from other facilities to send patients to an inpatient bed at Keck Medicine of USC or USC Norris Cancer Hospital. The referring facility is not required to have a Keck Medicine physician’s approval to request a transfer.

Who Can Initiate a Referral?

Case Managers, insurances, third-party or hospital representatives, physicians and medical directors.

Patients and families should request a referral through their physician or assigned case manager.

Keck Medicine of USC Transfer Center Goals

• To seamlessly transition patients from outside referring facilities to Keck Medicine of USC for appropriate medical treatments.
• To provide a convenient one-step process for physicians and health care professionals to transfer patients to Keck Medicine of USC and USC Norris.

Our multidisciplinary transfer process engages our registered nurse intake coordinators, Keck physicians and financial counselors to ensure an expedited response to all transfer requests. Our coordinators and physicians will collaborate to identify an appropriate accepting physician; our financial counselors will work directly with insurance agents to limit financial liabilities to patients and families. At Keck Medicine of USC we are focused on providing the right care with the right resources at the right cost.

Rapid Transfer Service

If needed, the Transfer Center can coordinate the transport of your patient through our Rapid Transfer Service. The appropriate level of transportation is determined after consultation among the transferring and accepting physician and our highly trained transfer team.

For Medical Professionals Only

Insurance and Billing

For questions related to insurance and billing, please click here.

Transfer Center Process

1. We will return your call or request to confirm receipt within 30 minutes.
   • If it is an emergent referral, please call our aortic center or neuro emergency line.
2. For a standard referral, we request demographics, H&P, diagnosis or reason for admission, referring case manager contact info, referring physician information and nursing station phone number.
   • Pertinent work-up and last 24 hours of progress notes are preferred if a discharge summary is not available
   • Depending on specialty, we may ask for more case details.
3. Once the above information is received, our clinical nurse coordinators and financial counselors will review for appropriateness.
4. We will refer and collaborate with the appropriate accepting physician, and may conference your referring physician to discuss the case.
5. Once our physician accepts the patient, our financial counselors will finalize financial eligibility and authorization for transfer.
   • If a case is declined, we will communicate with the referring party as soon as possible with the reason for clinical or financial denial.
6. If insurance requires a Letter of Agreement (LOA), our financial counselors will notify the referring party to work with the appropriate contact person to execute an LOA.
7. Once we have cleared the request with our accepting physician and received financial authorization and LOA, we will secure an inpatient hospital bed with the required and most appropriate level of care. We will communicate with the referring party as soon as possible so they can arrange transportation for transfer.
8. We will be the gateway and follow-up with the referring party daily with progress updates.

Keck Medicine of USC Specialties