Current Research Archives - eConsult Workgroup

E-CONSULT WORKGROUP RESOURCES IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

A recent study illustrated how the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) Digital Academy, Bangalore, with the collaboration of Project ECHO worked throughout the pandemic to develop capacity for substance abuse disorder (SUD) management through telehealth, training over six thousand five hundred health care providers. The Centre of Addiction Medicine, NIMHANS initiated an…

In this study of patients referred to pediatric cardiology, endocrinology or pulmonology at a federally qualified health center, the use of e-consults combined with evidence-based referral guidelines provided a useful tool to help front line pediatric primary care providers manage complex problems and identify those not needing to see a specialist in person. As a result, twenty-three…

The use of e-consult has emerged as a useful tool for primary care providers (PCPs) to quickly obtain non-urgent, patient-specific, expert advice from specialists. The COVID-19 pandemic forced health systems to rapidly implement and scale telehealth alternatives to in-person care to prevent exposure to the contagious respiratory virus. A recent study from Massachusetts General Hospital…

In a focus on “age-friendly health”, Terry Fulmer et al note that our health care system is unprepared to care for its growing population of older adults, and that new approaches must be considered, including telehealth modalities offering education, such as e-consult. Dr. Fulmer joined us for our March 2021 E-Consult workgroup webinar. Recommendations Include:…

An observational cohort study published in the American Journal of Managed care examined administrative data of all veterans who received an e-consult across 41 specialties and 1269 VHA medical centers and clinical sites from 2012 to 2018. The authors found that the number of e-Consults increased by 309% for all specialties by 2018. It was found that…

Researchers at Ohio State University performed a cross-sectional evaluation on all ambulatory dermatology referrals and eConsults over a 25-month period. The study reports that eConsults served more nonwhite patients and Medicaid enrollees compared to ambulatory referrals. Additionally, ambulatory referral patients were significantly less likely to attend their scheduled appointments compared with eConsult patients. Based on these results, the study…

Michelle Lee, MD, and Vinod Nambudiri, MD of Partners Healthcare, MA, recently published, Electronic Consultations for Safe and Equitable Coordination of Virtual Outpatient Specialty Care. This article, published in the Journal of Applied Clinical Informatics, argues that eConsults can improve the transition of care between primary care and specialists. The authors cite previous clinical studies to highlight how eConsults can improve the relationship and communication between PCPs and specialists and improve PCP education, patient access…

The Ontario eConsult Program has been a frequent feature of the E-Consult Workgroup with its longstanding success in provider engagement, cost savings and workflow process improvement. In a 2019 provider survey of 1,256 primary care providers (PCPs), summarized in the recent Telemedicine and E-Health article: 74% of PCPs agreed that eConsult improved their referral decision making 73% agreed…

A study titled The Vascular eConsult: An Efficient, Useful, and Economical Tool for Primary Care Physicians to Interact With a Vascular Specialist, for Proper Care of the Vascular Patient by Ottawa researchers from the Ontario eConsult Program reviewed 846 cases that had been submitted for a vascular surgery e-consult between 2014 to 2016. Each case included mandatory…

E-Consults and telemedicine can result in improved access to specialty care for underserved patients. You can access the article here.

Specialists’ use of virtual communications to deliver care instead of in-person recommendations increased during the pandemic.

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