When sports physiotherapist Daniel Patterson APAM worked in pro sport as a young physiotherapist, the multidisciplinary team that surrounded him included medical staff who were always on hand to write prescriptions and referrals for imaging or for specialist care when needed. 

But when Daniel started his own private practice physiotherapy clinic, he quickly ran into one of the big frustrations of physiotherapy—the need for patients to visit a GP in order to be referred for a Medicare-approved bulkbilled scan or to see a specialist doctor such as a surgeon. 

‘Referrals in the pro sport environment were done that day, every time, because we had the doctor and they signed off on everything. 

‘It worked really well because we collaborated. 

‘When I left pro sport, the frustration was bigger than it maybe should have been because I was used to how it was in pro sport,’ says Daniel, who has developed a digital platform, Refr Health, that allows physiotherapists to quickly obtain a referral from a GP for medical imaging or a specialist appointment without their patient having to visit the GP in person. 

Refr Health won the People’s Choice Award, worth $5000, at the 2025 Physiotherapy Research Foundation Physio Pitchfest held at the APASC25 conference. 

Physio Pitchfest is a competition for innovative products developed by physiotherapists. 

Finalists have three minutes to ‘pitch’ their product to the audience and judging panel. 

Daniel says that the time needed for patients to go to their GP for referrals delays treatment for musculoskeletal conditions and injuries and can result in patients giving up on treatment or looking elsewhere. 

‘I would say to people, “Okay, you need to go see a surgeon now. I’ve got a really good connection; he’s one of the best.” 

‘And they’d say, “All right; sweet; give me the referral” and I’d say, “Well, I can’t.” 

‘And they’d say, “Why can’t you? You’re a physio; you know a lot about this.” 

‘And I would be embarrassed and feel like a little of my authority went away in that moment. 

‘It was a bit of an ego thing and a bit of a business problem but on top of that, I got into physio because I wanted to help people and I wanted to be able to say, “You need this, go get it!”’ 

One of Daniel’s patients was a developer and AI expert who had experienced the delays caused by needing to see the GP for an imaging referral followed by a specialist referral. 

In this case, treatment was delayed by several months. 

Another patient and good friend of Daniel’s experienced similar lags. 

Together, the three sat down and brainstormed a solution, founding and developing Refr Health, a digital platform that connects the patient by telehealth with a GP, who can sign off on the physiotherapist’s assessment of the problem or injury and generate an appropriate referral—to get a scan or to see a surgeon or other specialist. 

‘We’re not a telehealth company. 

‘We connect the patient in that moment with an available telehealth partner and they’re a GP. 

‘The physio submits the case. 

‘The physio’s already done the consult physically so there’s proof of what’s happened. 

‘The GP then views the case and goes, “Yep, totally agree, their knee’s blown up, it’s swollen, they can’t bend it, they can’t walk and they need an MRI” and they sign off on it.’ 

It means that instead of the patient making an appointment with a GP and going to the appointment to get the referral, a process that can take days or weeks, they can get the referral sent directly to them that day, often within minutes. 

Refr Health offers two types of radiology imaging referrals, GP and specialist physician signed. 

All imaging modalities are available for bulk-billing through the platform. 

However, this isn’t just about generating referrals. 

The entire referral flow is fully digital and trackable— physiotherapists have complete visibility over each patient’s journey via a single dashboard, ensuring that no patient slips through the cracks. 

The platform keeps track of both the patient and the imaging results—streamlining the process and enabling timely follow-ups, automated booking and reminders—and can link the patient and their physiotherapist directly with their own GP and any specialists to expedite communication. 

Refr’s mission is to unclog the GP and specialist bottleneck by owning the digital referral flow and redistributing patient care. 

The aim is clearer continuity of care for patients and greater case load, capability and authority for allied health professionals within the healthcare system. 

Daniel says that physiotherapists can use Refr Health for free and patients are billed $45 for the telehealth consult, which is in line with the average out-of-pocket cost to see a GP. 

Ultimately, Daniel and his co-founders hope to expand their platform to work with other allied health clinicians, including psychologists and podiatrists. 

In the meantime, they are busy building on the capabilities of the platform, incorporating more AI to speed up the workflow, working on integrating it with practice management software and enlarging their network of GPs and specialists. 

They have been approached by a number of individuals and venture capital companies, with which they are in advanced talks. 

‘We learned so much through the applications for accelerators and for Pitchfest. 

‘So many thoughts and ideas came from it.’ 

Daniel says that Pitchfest was a valuable experience for the fledgling company, making them consider the users of Refr Health—the clinicians—and how best to pitch to them the benefits of the platform. 

‘We actually hadn’t done that as most of our pitching had been to potential investors. 

‘Now, when we talk to physios, we can talk very succinctly because we’ve been through that process.’ 

Daniel says the award went toward funding the company’s booth at APASC25, where the developers were able to connect directly with physiotherapists as well as with other companies offering practice management services. 

‘I spoke to a lot of physios and we signed up a few hundred users from the conference so it was very useful. 

‘As a company, our main challenge is getting in front of people. 

‘Once you’re in front of them, they want it because it’s free and it makes everything about their job better when it comes to scans and referrals.’

>> Watch a short interview with Refr Health founder Daniel Patterson