Association of eConsult Implementation With Access to Specialist Care in a Large Urban Safety-Net System.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Accessing specialty care continues to be a persistent problem for patients who use safety-net health systems. To address this access barrier, hospital systems have begun to implement electronic referral systems using eConsults, which allow clinicians to submit referral requests to specialty clinics electronically and enable specialty reviewers to resolve referrals, if appropriate, through electronic dialogue without an in-person visit.

Objective

Measure the effect of implementing an eConsult program on access to specialty care.

Design setting and participants

Using an interrupted time series design with data from 2016 to 2020, this study analyzed 50 260 referral requests submitted during the year before and the year after eConsult implementation at 19 New Y

SUBMITTER: Gaye M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8796905 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature