Primary Care Providers’ Perspective on eConsult

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 that eConsult increased their ability to manage a broader array of diagnoses and
• 88% stated that their user experience was either “very good” or “good” 

A great deal of work remains in providing primary care teams the workflow and technology support they need to conduct e-consults, however, this program emphasizes that primary care providers can experience the benefits of improved response times and care delivery.