For referring physicians
Refer a patient.
Referral pathways
Three routes, chosen by urgency and complexity
Standard scheduling
Routine referral
Elective hand and upper-extremity problems - nerve compression, arthritis, tendon conditions, chronic pain and loss of function.
Please include
- Reason for referral and current symptoms
- Relevant imaging and reports
- Treatment already tried
Expedited review
Urgent case
Acute injuries, wounds and problems where timing affects what can be done - particularly nerve and tendon injuries.
Please include
- Mechanism and time of injury
- Neurovascular status
- Imaging performed
- Direct contact details for the referrer
Detailed review
Complex / revision case
Persistent or recurrent problems after previous treatment, multi-tissue reconstruction, and difficult second opinions.
Please include
- Previous operative reports - the most useful single document
- Serial imaging and any nerve studies
- Therapy records and range-of-motion measurements
- A summary of what has changed and when
Complex & revision
Refer a complex or revision case.
Dr. Champagne welcomes evaluation of complex hand and upper-extremity problems, including patients with persistent or recurrent problems following previous treatment.
For these referrals the previous operative report is the most valuable item you can send. It describes what was found and what was done - which is often the information that changes the assessment.
About revision & secondary surgeryReferral categories
Persistent symptoms after previous surgery
Secondary reconstruction
Revision hand surgery
Revision peripheral nerve surgery
Revision tendon reconstruction
Post-traumatic reconstruction
Complex scar and soft-tissue problems
Complex wounds
Previous reconstruction that has not achieved its goal
Difficult second-opinion cases
Clinical areas
Problems evaluated
- Traumatic hand injuries
- Wrist and hand fractures
- Tendon injuries
- Peripheral nerve injuries
- Arterial injuries
- Complex wounds
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Thumb-base pain
- Chronic hand conditions
- Reconstructive hand surgery
Records & imaging
Imaging is most useful as the images themselves rather than the report alone, particularly for fractures involving a joint surface and for anything being assessed for revision.
- Operative reports from any previous surgery
- Radiographs, CT, MRI or ultrasound - studies, not only reports
- Nerve conduction studies and electromyography
- Hand therapy notes and range-of-motion measurements
- Relevant clinic correspondence
Sending records
Records must be transferred through an approved, HIPAA-compliant route.
Physician-to-physician
For a case you would like to discuss directly before referring - particularly an acute injury where timing matters, or a revision problem where the question is whether referral is worthwhile at all - the office can arrange a physician-to-physician conversation.
- Phone
- (602) 258-4788
- Address
- 370 E. Virginia Ave., Suite 100, Phoenix, AZ 85004
- Office hours
- Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–3:00 PM
What happens after a referral
The patient is contacted to arrange an appointment. Where records have been sent, they are available before the visit so the consultation can start from the current position rather than from the beginning.
Referrers receive correspondence after the consultation setting out the assessment and the plan. Where a case turns out to be better served elsewhere, that is said plainly rather than absorbed into a waiting list.
Send a referral request