The September E-Consult Workgroup webinar featured Dr. Shalina Nair and Candy Magaña of the Ohio State University (OSU) Wexner Medical Center who discussed the OSU’s Clinical Transformation in Technology Framework to quickly expand telehealth in response to the COVID-10 pandemic. In addition, Dr. Alpesh Amin, Chair, Department of Medicine, UC Irvine School of Medicine presented on … Read more
Specialists’ use of virtual communications to deliver care instead of in-person recommendations increased during the pandemic.
This month’s webinar started with an insightful presentation by Danielle Oryn, MD, CEO of Redwood Community Health Coalition(RCHC) about an e-consult pilot initiated in April 2020 to address the lack of specialist care access providers were experiencing during the pandemic. Then Stanley Dea, MD of LA County Department of Health Services presented a review of … Read more
Medicare provider fee schedule including e-consult CPT codes (99446-9 and 99451-2). https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/proposed-policy-payment-and-quality-provisions-changes-medicare-physician-fee-schedule-calendar-year-4
This month’s webinar started with presentations by Grace Song, MD, CA Correctional Health Services Deputy Medical Executive and Stanley Frencher, Jr., MD, CEO of HubMD on increased e-consult use for correctional healthcare since the COVID-19 surge. Then Aasta Thielke, MPH from the Center for Evidence-Based Policy, gave a detailed presentation on the research methods and conclusions of … Read more
Milbank Foundation-supported literature review of successful e-consult programs. https://www.milbank.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/eConsults_Milbank_Report_v4.pdf
Ohio State University shares how e-consult was fast-tracked to support care during the pandemic. https://publichealth.jmir.org/2020/2/e19045/
At the outset of the pandemic, telehealth went from under 5% of visits to almost 93%, maintaining high patient satisfaction. https://publichealth.jmir.org/2020/2/e19045/
Pediatric dermatology e-consults reduce needs for face-to-face visits and offer potential costs savings for payers and patients. Access the article here.
The study found high rates of appropriate e-consults across specialties, supporting that e-consults are efficient compared with in-person visits https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M19-3852
E-Consults can replace some in-person specialty consultations, provides clinical guidance and reducing the risk of in-person visits to both patients and physicians. You can access the article here.
E-Consults provide a safe and effective means of triaging and providing recommendations for patients with vascular disease. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31611112/
In this opinion piece, Dr. Barnett argues that fewer visits caused by the pandemic is a much needed and welcome change in managing patients’ healthcare. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/11/after-pandemic-visiting-doctor-will-never-be-same-thats-fine/
This study demonstrates 70% of resolution of e-consults without a face-to-face visit, a benefit for seniors that face challenges to travel to appointments. You can access the article here.
Patients reported similar levels of satisfaction, understanding and acceptance of e-consults and in-person referrals. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-05703-7