Posts by Ciara
Improving Primary Care Access to Respirologists Using E-Consults
The Champlain Building Access to Specialists through E-Consultation (BASETM), a secure online platform that allows primary care providers to ask a clinical questions to different specialty groups with the expectation the specialists will respond within 7 days, conducted respirology e-consultations from January 2017 through December 2018. Each e-consultation was categorized by types of questions asked by the provider…
Read MoreThe Role of Telehealth in the Medical Response to Natural Disasters
In January 2023, California faced record-breaking precipitation which put additional strain on an already overburdened health care system. The advantages of using telehealth during natural disasters are presented by Brendan Carr, MD, Associate Dean of Healthcare Delivery Innovation at Jefferson (Philadelphia University and Thomas Jefferson University), and Nicole Lurie, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, authors of a 2018 JAMA…
Read MoreCenter for Medicare & Medicaid Services Announces Increased Flexibilities in Medicaid E-Consult Reimbursement
On January 5, 2023, CMS published a State Health Official letter clarifyingpolicy on reimbursement for interprofessional consultation services inMedicaid and CHIP. The letter outlines that interprofessional consultation isa distinct, coverable service in Medicaid and CHIP, and that payment can bemade directly to consulting providers. This welcomed change will bringclarity to states in adding interprofessional consultation…
Read MoreE-Consult in addiction medicine: An initiative in COVID lockdown
This article highlights the use of a mobile e-consult platform initiated by the Centre of Addiction Medicine in India, in light of the need for substance use services during the COVID-19 lockdown. The mobile e-consult platform was found to be a promising method to serve patients with substance use disorders, as it enabled providers to easily transmit cases and queries to specialists. Specialists received…
Read MoreCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services Support for E-Consult Reimbursement
In December, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and Virginia Medicaid (Department of Medical Assistance Services) met with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to discuss Medicaid’s payment policies with a focus on new concerns that have been raised in some states about the ability of Medicaid to provide a federal match for…
Read MoreE-Consult Workgroup Newsletters
E-Consult Coalition News August 2023 E-Consult Coalition News July 2023 E-Consult Coalition News June 2023 E-Consult Coalition News May 2023 E-Consult Coalition News April 2023 E-Consult Coalition News March 2023 E-Consult Coalition News February 2023 E-Consult Coalition News January 2023 Part 2 E-Consult Coalition News January 2023 Part 1 E-Consult Coalition News December 2022 E-Consult…
Read MoreE-Consult Workgroup 2020 Annual Meeting Highlights
The E-Consult Workgroup and California Telehealth Policy Coalition hosted our annual meetings November 16-17, 2020. Thank you to our speakers and sponsors of our annual meeting, made possible by California Health Care Foundation, Anthem Blue Cross, ConferMed, IEHP, Safety Net Connect, WISE Healthcare, AristaMD, and RubiconMD. To sponsor the Workgroup in 2021, contact econsultworkgroup@bluepathhealth.com. View Fireside…
Read MoreSeptember 2021 Central Valley E-Consult Coalition Meeting
Septmeber’s webinar featured the launch of the CAPP child and adolescent psychiatry e-consult program, presented by Petra Steinbuchel, MD and Michelle Riederer, MD, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. In addition, we shared upcoming opportunities including free CME on e-consult for behavioral and mental health, and access to e-consults for uninsured patients.
Read MoreNorth Rural E-Consult Coalition September 2021 Monthly Meeting
The NREC meets every month to share best practices and use cases of the effectiveness of e-Consult. This month’s webinar included a discussion with Marc Avdalovic, MD, MAS, FCCP and James Marcin, MD, MPH from UC Davis, who shared the provider perspective on value of e-Consult. Dr. Avdalovic has clinical interests in pulmonary and critical care, and is very…
Read MoreClinical Effectiveness of an Outpatient Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Management Telementoring Service
The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a Pain E-Consult Program (PEP), a multidisciplinary telementoring service based on the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model to reduce opioid use in the outpatient setting. A PEP was associated with greater reductions in morphine milligram equivalent (MME)/day compared with usual care despite similar rates…
Read MoreSeptember 2021 E-Consult Workgroup Webinar
Our September E-Consult Workgroup webinar featured a guest presentation by Stanely Frencher, MD, CEO, HubMD and Desiree Sanchez, MD, UCLA, on the recent study titled E-Consult: A Novel Opportunity to Evaluate Hematuria Referrals For Medicaid Patients in the “Real World” Community.
Read MoreClinical Trends Over the First Year of a Psychiatric Electronic Consult Service
This study aims to determine which psychiatric diagnoses are most commonly used for e-consults inquiries, what types of questions are being asked by primary care providers to psychiatrists via e-consults, and what questions and which diagnoses result in a recommendation for in-person evaluations by psychiatrists. The study found that certain diagnoses and question types appear to influence…
Read MoreSpecialist Electronic Consult Performance
Study shows that pandemic has shed light on clinicians’ commitment to professionalism and service as we rapidly adapt to changing paradigms. Interventions that appeal to professional norms can help improve the efficacy of new systems of practice. We show that specialists’ performance can be measured and improved with feedback using aspirational norms.
Read MoreNorth Rural E-Consult Coalition August 2021 Monthly Meeting
We are pleased to introduce the North Rural E-Consult Coalition (NREC), a group open to providers and stakeholders interested in improving access to specialty care through electronic consult. The NREC is a group of community health centers, health systems, physicians’ groups and health plans working together to create an inclusive program to address implementation needs, streamline referral…
Read MoreJuly 2021 E-Consult Workgroup Webinar
For our July meeting, the E-Consult Workgroup welcomed authors Michael L Barnett, MD and Hannah Byrnes-Enoch, MPH who will present on their recent publication, “Association of eConsult Implementation With Access to Specialist Care in a Large Urban Safety-Net System.” Our guests spoke to the results of the study and the success of e-consult at 19 New York…
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