encaminhados

Encaminhados is the plural form of encaminhado, the past participle of encaminhar in Portuguese, used as an adjective or noun meaning those who have been referred, forwarded, or sent on for action or consideration. The term derives from the verb encaminhar, which can mean to forward, to route, or to refer someone to another service or authority. In everyday Brazilian and European Portuguese, encaminhados is commonly used to describe people, documents, or messages that have been directed to another party.

In healthcare, encaminhados refers most often to patients who have been referred from primary care or a general consultation to a specialist, diagnostic service, or higher level of care. The related process, encaminhamento, includes patient data, reason for the referral, clinical notes, and urgency, and the status of the encaminhados is tracked in medical records or referral systems. The term emphasizes the transfer of responsibility or attention to another professional or service.

Beyond medicine, the word appears in administrative and bureaucratic contexts to indicate items that have been routed to another department or unit. For example, pacients encaminhados ao serviço de oftalmologia means patients referred to ophthalmology, while documentos encaminhados à assessoria jurídica means documents forwarded to the legal advisory office. Encaminhados, encaminhadas, and the related terms convey the action of directing or forwarding within a system, with gender and number agreements marking singular or plural forms.