Orthopedic eConsult Benefits for Patients
Aaron Morgenstein, MD, Orthopedic Specialist at AristaMD
Beyond the myths of inpatient in-person evaluation, what are the benefits of orthopedic eConsults?
Well, the benefits start with the patients. The patients probably have the most benefit. They get increased accessibility to experts in specialty fields that they may not have access to. There’s a convenience factor. They don’t have to drive, they don’t have to wait in a waiting room. They get to have an answer from a physician, from a surgeon, from an orthopedic surgeon within hours or within days. They usually get a faster response from an eConsult than they do from an in-person evaluation. That takes time to get there, time to schedule it, and when are you gonna see that appointment? It’s also reduced costs for the patients. It makes sense if they don’t have to drive, spend the gas money, and take a day off from work. It can be significantly reduced costs by utilizing eConsults and who doesn’t want expert guidance and reassurance from a specialist? That would take time to travel to.
Five Ways eConsults Support Value-Based Care
Combine your referral management platform with an eConsult solution to reduce patient wait times and the cost of care. Learn five ways our eConsults support value-based care by allowing primary care physicians, nurse practitioners or PAs to submit electronic requests for patient advice to our team of specialists to manage low-acuity patients.
#1 Help Patients Avoid Unnecessary Face-to-Face Specialty Visits
About 70% of eConsults can address what physicians typically send for a face-to-face specialty visit. As a web-based physician-to-physician consultation, there is no need for any particular technology or integration — the PCP orders the referral the same way they would traditionally order one. Or suppose the patient was to go face-to-face for a specialty consult with the provider using our referral nurse coordination, RNN service, and nurse navigators. In that case, our nurse will curate the eConsults by grabbing all of the data needed for the patient from the chart. Private health information is then sent to our specialist, who reviews the data and provides an evidence-based response on that patient’s best practice and management. Within four to six hours, the primary care provider receives a notification and can view the eConsult specialist’s recommendations.
The bottom line — for every specialty visit where we serve the patient using an eConsult and address issues through the primary care provider, we can fend off the need for three face-to-face visits. Also, once you gain specific knowledge from a specialist on a particular condition, you have the answer to the same question when it comes up again.
Aaron Morgenstein, MD
Orthopedist and Orthopedic Specialist at AristaMD
Dr. Morgenstein is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon. He attended medical school at the University of Kentucky and residency at the Atlanta Medical Center. Dr. Morgenstein has a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & healthcare industry. Skilled in Clinical Research, Medical Education, Medicine, Public Speaking, and Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)