Gender Clinic

Refer a Patient

How to Refer a Patient

To locate or expedite a referral, please call our Clinical Intake Coordinators at 206-987-2080, option 2.

Appointment availability

Updated May 2022.

We are accepting new patients ages 16 and younger. The wait time to be seen is 6 months at this time. A referral is not required but helps us better serve your patient.

To help patients get care sooner, our providers created these resources for PCPs:

  • See our algorithm Gender Affirming Medical Care for Youth (Ages 11 to 17) for guidance on medical intervention and when to refer to our clinic.
  • Request an e-consult. Currently this service is free of charge. It is a great way to submit a non-urgent (i.e. you feel it is appropriate to receive a response within 3 business days) question about your transgender or gender diverse patient.

We offer telehealth and in-person appointments for new and return visits.

Referral requirements

We ask that providers submit a referral that is complete. A complete referral helps us schedule an appointment for your patient in a timely manner and match them with the right specialist and clinic location. It ensures a productive and smooth first appointment for your patient. It also helps us assess the needs of our community and plan to have the capacity to meet those needs. 

Please include:

  • Reason for referral: what is the clinical question for the specialist?
  • If the referral is urgent (see within 4 weeks) or routine (next available)
  • ICD-10 Diagnosis – required
  • Visit type:
    • New patient consult, transfer of care, second opinion, or return visit/ongoing care
  • ALL relevant clinical documents
    • Clinic notes
    • Medication history
    • Growth charts/curves 
    • Lab reports
    • Imaging and diagnostic reports
    • Previous specialty evaluations
  • Patient’s full name, DOB, sex, address, guardian contact information and insurance
  • Referring provider’s name, phone, fax and the referral coordinator’s email address so that we may contact you if additional information is needed
  • Preferred clinic location, if applicable
  • If an interpreter is needed
  • Any known barriers to performing a successful telehealth (video) visit with the family

We accept new patients ages 9 to 16 for medical care. If your patient is prepubertal and not in need of medical treatment, please see our Patient and Family Resources page for helpful resources.

Please refer your patients ages 17 and older to adult care gender providers in our community where they can be seen sooner. This allows us to preserve our capacity to serve younger patients, who have fewer care options.

Tricare and Kaiser Insurance

  • If you are referring a patient with Tricare Prime they need an authorization number, usually initiated by a PCP referral. Patients and families should talk to their PCP or call Tricare to initiate the authorization. Once they have the authorization number they need to call us and provide the number. We are not able to process referrals or schedule appointments until we have the authorization number.
  • If you are referring a patient with Kaiser insurance, we encourage them to seek care through Kaiser’s Transgender Services Program which offers similar services to ours with fewer insurance authorizations required and possibly quicker access.

Submit a referral

We’re committed to partnering with you

  • Diagnosis and treatment options: call 206-987-7777 (Provider-to-Provider Line).
  • Referring or transporting a patient to our Emergency Department or Urgent Care: call 206-987-8899 or, toll-free, 866-987-8899 (Emergency Department Communications Center).

Learn more about managing your patients at Seattle Children’s, including viewing your patient’s records.

What Your Patients Can Expect

  • Once we receive your referral, your patient will be in our queue to review and schedule. Initial clinic visits are scheduling 3 to 6 months out.
  • Families may call 206-987-2028 to ask to be added to a cancellation list.
  • We review openings and the patient referral queue daily.
  • As openings become available, we call families to schedule based on provider availability and the patient’s needs.

Resources for Providers

See our comprehensive Education and Resources for Healthcare Professionals.

To suggest additional resources from Seattle Children’s that would be useful to primary care providers, please email us.