Provider Engagement and Leadership in Action (dropdown)
What Zuckerberg San Francisco General Did
ZSFG recognized early the importance of collaboration among primary care providers and specialists across the organization, and created specialty guidelines or templates to support providers to more easily participate in their eReferral program. Since its program launch over 10 years ago, San Francisco e-consult leaders have produced a number of publications on best practices and lessons learned.
The Importance of a Provider Champion
Dr. Tuot, Clinical Advisor to the E-Consult Workgroup, is also a practicing nephrologist and an active e-consult/eReferral participant. In addition to leading provider engagement at ZSFG, Dr. Tuot created an evaluation process that has been leveraged across hospitals in California and Nationally.
Dr. Tuot continues to support successful e-consult programs across the country in leading by example.
How to Get Started
Contact the E-Consult Workgroup to learn more about readiness assessment and provider engagement.
Payer Value Proposition and Ownership in Action (dropdown)
Anthem Blue Cross Approach
Anthem Blue Cross realized their Fresno, CA county-wide e-consult program required payer collaboration in order to support providers with one workflow for all Medicaid patients.
To do this, they formed the Fresno E-Consult Coalition with other managed care plans, FQHCs, and independent practice associations at the table.
Hear payer leaders' perspectives on e-consult collaboration.
Payer Collaboration Leaders
The plans engaged Fresno County FQHCs and the local medical groups to support one workflow and reporting mechanism for primary care providers using e-consult. The plans hosts county-wide roundtable sessions to foster conversations around patient/member and provider needs and increase access to care across Fresno and neighboring counties.
Learn more about the Fresno E-Consult Coalition.
How to Get Started
Contact BluePath Health to learn about the county-wide e-consult implementation approach.
Streamlined Provider Technology Workflow in Action
What OSU Did
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio State University Wexler Medical Center leveraged Clinical Transformation in Technology (CTT) implementation framework to transition to telehealth, and leveraged its existing e-consult program to enable providers to support remote care delivery, patient and provider safety.
CTT Implementation Leaders
OSU's Department of Family and Community Medicine's Telehealth Workgroup employed the CTT framework to accelerate telehealth use and develop clinician recommendations in providing remote virtual care during the pandemic.
In a few weeks, patient visits went from 5% to almost 93% telehealth while maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction.
How to Get Started
Contact the E-Consult Workgroup to learn more about e-consult provider workflow.
Patient/Member Education and Communications in Action (dropdown)
AAMC Approach
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) set out to understand patient perspectives and preferences for use at 5 US academic medical centers in the process of adopting e-consult.
Although e-consults take place behind the scenes, when patients are engaged to receive specialist advice, they demonstrate increased satisfaction with the care they receive.
This webinar focused on patient perspectives on e-consult.
AAMC Implementation Leaders
Based on the University of California, San Francisco model, AAMC launched Project CORE: Coordinating Optimal Referral Experiences in 2014 to improve the clinician and patient referral experience.
More than 30 AMCs across the country have successfully implemented e-consults and e-referrals, tools built into the electronic medical record, improving quality of care and access in a patient-centered way.
In this study, UCSF assessed patient acceptance of e-consult.
How to Get Started
Contact BluePath Health to learn more about patient engagement strategies.
Implementation Examples (dropdown)
Primary Care Organization (FQHC or Independent Practice)
Community Health Centers, Inc. a federally qualified health center in Middletown Connecticut, engaged its primary care providers, clinic specialists, and State Medicaid to support its initial effort.
At CHC, Inc., clinical leadership prioritizes the right type of care at the right time -- e-consult, ECHO (provider education) and/or live video telehealth specific to the patient need.
Health System (Hospital or Academic Medical Center)
The University of California at Irvine faces a growing aging population, a high cost of living and a shortage of physicians. UCI implemented e-consult to tackle lower-complexity referral problems that did not require an in-person evaluation, resulting in 80% of requests being resolved electronically.
View the webinar where Dr. Alpesh Amin, Chair, Department of Medicine, UC Irvine School of Medicine presented on their experience.
Health Plan (Medicaid or Commercial Payer)
Inland Empire Health Plan partnered with WISE Healthcare to pair primary care providers with specialists to ask questions, learn from his experiences and improve processes.
In its Multi-County E-Consult Initiative, IEHP held evening networking meetings allowing providers to share a meal and discuss how to strengthen their program.
View the webinar in which Dr. Priya Batra of IEHP speaks to specialty care access through telehealth.