Technological advances have not only changed the way healthcare providers interact with their patients, but has also changed the ways in which providers work together. Technology has allowed healthcare providers to communicate with one another more quickly and by a wider variety of means than ever before. With this vastly increased interconnectivity, the formalization of electronic consultation (eConsults) is beneficial to improving patient care and centralizing and standardizing the consultations occurring between healthcare professionals. This course is designed to provide information on how to adopt and integrate telehealth technology to facilitate asynchronous, provider-to-provider consultations, known as eConsults.
Course Highlights:
- To support asynchronous (store-and-forward), consultative, provider-to-provider communications between primary care providers (PCPs) or other providers and specialists or other responding provider type to improve the efficiency and efficacy of patient care.
- To improve access to specialty expertise for patients and providers.
- To reduce unnecessary specialist visits.
- To provide timely feedback to PCPs and other ordering providers.
- To offer educational resources to referring providers.
- To foster Interprofessional collaboration and new care team relationships
- To provide documentation, referenceable material, and formalized consult exchange to foster safety, efficiency, and a searchable repository
Learning Objectives:
After completing this activity, the learner should be able to better:
- Understand the rationale behind the creation of eConsults
- Define essential terminology related to eConsults
- Describe current models used for eConsults
- Discuss the most common benefits of eConsults
- Consider potential barriers to using eConsults and discuss lessons learned
- Examine policies that have shaped the landscape of eConsults
Authored by:
- Content Expert: Kimberly J. Dowdell, MD
- Assisted by: Sam Collins
- Assisted by: Christy Collins, M.Ed
Edited by:
- Jann Balmer, BSN, PhD
- Kathleen Bunch Meneses, MS
*Purchase grants one learner one year’s access to lessons and quizzes (access expires 365 days from date of course activation.)
This training module was made possible by grant number GA5RH37467 from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Health Resources and Services Administration, DHHS.