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Learn MoreIn a March 18, 2019 New York Times article, Austin Frakt talks about the potential benefits of eConsults for healthcare. In essence, eConsults occur when a primary care doctor consults a specialist about a patient electronically, probably by email, in place of an appointment. In this case the patient gets to avoid the time required to get a specialist appointment, and overall this process allows health systems to “free up capacity…, reducing waiting times for others.”
Frakt identifies multiple ways eConsults may have value for healthcare:
Reducing unnecessary specialist visits – In the article Frakt states that “Studies have found that a large portion of referrals to specialists—upward of 40 percent in some cases—are not needed.”
Saving significant time and expense – Some patients may be spared the effort to travel long distances to specialist appointments, and others might be able to avoid the lengthy delays before such a visit. In some cases these delays can lead to further health complications or even more serious conditions.
Ensuring Medicaid patients receive high quality care – Frakt cites a study that “found that nearly one-third of specialists are unwilling to make appointments with new Medicaid patients.”
Counteracting specialist shortages – Frakt quotes Dr. Mitchell Katz, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and now the president of NYC Health & Hospitals, who shared “A safety net system can’t afford to hire enough specialists to meet demand—eConsults get around that problem by increasing access through enhancing efficiency.”
Shortening appointment wait times – In the case of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, after 3 years of using eConsults, “waiting times for specialists had fallen by an average of 17 percent, to 52 days from 63 days. The proportion of appointments scheduled within 30 days rose to 30 percent from 24 percent. A quarter of eConsult engagements between primary care and specialist physicians were resolved with no visit at all.”
Improving satisfaction for both doctors and patients – Not only do eConsults serve to resolve lots of patient problems for patients, but “Patients generally report good experiences and high satisfaction” with them.
Frakt does caution that the danger of eConsults is that this system routes more work and administrative burden to primary care doctors. It’s important to understand that eConsults could become less valuable if any of the clinicians involved are less engaged and automatically refer patients to specialists for review. By increasing the volume of care delivered by a system, eConsults do have the potential to “contribute to rising health care spending.” This can only be justified if they have a documented impact on improved patient outcomes, which has not been shown yet in studies.
Reference
All quotes are from:
Frakt, Austin, “When Email Comes to the Doctor’s Office, Wait Times Decrease,” The New York Times, March 18, 2019, Retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/upshot/when-email-comes-to-the-doctors-office-wait-times-decrease.html.
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View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
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View All Clinical DevelopmentLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ProductsOur competency development solutions personalize learning for clinicians to bridge the gap between theory and practice for your nurse residents.
View All ProductsEnhance maternal & child nursing care with solutions focused on improving the quality of care for mothers, infants, and children.
View All ProductsAddress staffing orientation challenges to easily achieve and maintain certification with our emergency and acute care training solutions.
View All ProductsAs a premier provider of healthcare education, we are committed to promoting safer, more successful surgical and sedation outcomes for each and every patient.
View All ProductsOur solutions are designed to cater to the needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations dealing with illnesses or chronic conditions.
View All ProductsOnline clinical placement software allows schools, healthcare organizations, and students to seamlessly manage clinical and nursing rotations.
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