Patient Transfer Center
The Patient Transfer Center is operational 24/7 and offers a streamlined referral process that ensures quick and easy admission into the Mount Sinai Health System. Health care professionals both within and outside of the Mount Sinai Health System can call 800-TO-SINAI (800-867-4624) at any time, and clinical staff will be available to coordinate the transfer of your patient. The Transfer Center will collaborate with System Throughput to secure appropriate bed placements. Once a bed is secured, Transfer Center will arrange ambulance transportation, including specialized advanced cardiac support levels, for adult and pediatric patients. If you do not have an accepting physician, the Transfer Coordinator will be glad to identify one for you and facilitate a physician-to-physician phone consultation.
Our Team
Our team members include highly skilled registered nurses, paramedics, and administrative professionals. We collaborate closely with personnel throughout the Health System and clinicians at external health facilities, including:
The patient’s primary care team at the sending Facility, Receiving Facility, and Consulting Services
- Centralized provider roles for Central Hospitalist and Central Intensivist
- Patient Financial Services, insurance carriers, Social Work, and Case Management to ensure financial authorization
- System Throughput
Our Services
In addition to intra-hospital transfers (within the Mount Sinai Health System) and inter-hospital transfers (into The Health System from external sites), the Patient Transfer Center functions as a bridge for patients to these additional services:
- Round Trip Transfers: Coordination of an inpatient to and from a scheduled appointment, exam, or procedure (e.g., endoscopy)
- Teleconsults: Facilitating connection with specialty providers for consultations via telecommunication within the Health System
- Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport: Directing telehealth care in coordination with 911
- External Hospital Transfers: Transfer of a patient to a hospital outside of the Health System. We collaborate with the appropriate physicians or transfer centers of external hospitals for transfers leaving the Health System.
- Acute Rehab: Assisting with discharge of an inpatient to an acute rehab facility
- Acute Psych: Helping with discharge or transfer of Mount Sinai’s Behavioral Health Center patients to an appropriate behavioral health facility
How to Request a Transfer
Physicians can request a patient transfer by calling 800-TO-SINAI (800-867-4624). If a patient or family member wants to request a transfer to a Mount Sinai hospital, please speak with your health care team. Only a physician can make a transfer request.
When calling, please have the following information available:
- Patient name, gender, and date of birth
- Diagnosis/condition
- Direct contact number for the attending physician requesting the transfer (no pagers please)
- Name of sending facility/unit and call-back number where the nurse can be reached
- Priority level for transfer:
- Life/Limb Rescue: Unstable patient who is in immediate danger of losing life, limb, organ or, with respect to a pregnant person, the person or unborn child
- Stable Time Sensitive (Level One): Stable patient requiring time-sensitive interventions and/or specialty management for which services are not available on site in the sending facility
- Stable Routine Transfer (Level Two): Stable patient scheduled for procedure or requiring medical or surgical specialty management not on site, or patient consenting to transfer to another Mount Sinai facility inpatient bed as part of surge protocol
- Stable Patient/Family Request (Level Three): Stable patient or family request for transfer
- Reason for transferring patient, which may include:
- Need for a higher level of care (such as need for an intensive care unit)
- Service not provided at sending facility
- Continuity of care (please note the date of last service, if known)