Orthopedic eConsult Myths
Aaron Morgenstein, MD, Orthopedic Specialist at AristaMD
Some orthopedic eConsult myths:
Ortho orthopedic surgeon eConsults are not as good as in-person visits. I tend to disagree. I think that eConsults are fantastic. I do think that patient satisfaction scores are higher if they don’t have to drive an hour or two hours and sit in a lobby and get the same answer that they would get from an orthopedic surgeon via eConsult. So, no, I don’t think orthopedic surgeons in person are as good sometimes as an eConsult. Another myth is orthopedic eConsults cannot diagnose musculoskeletal conditions. The more information you give me during an eConsult, the more likely I am to be accurate with my diagnosis or at least be able to provide you a differential diagnosis so no eConsults can help make a diagnosis. Another myth is that orthopedic surgeons require an in-person physical examination. No, not always. There are many times when an orthopedic surgeon does not have to place their hands on a patient.
It can be told to us by a nurse practitioner, or PA in the clinic saying, Hey, these are the physical examination findings. What should I do next with these X-ray findings? That’s where eConsult comes of value and I don’t have to put my hands on a patient. I don’t have to provide a physical examination in all cases, no. Another myth, is ortho eConsults can’t reassure patient families like in-person. I very much disagree. I think one of the greatest things about eConsults, especially Ortho eConsults, is the ability to provide information to the patients and their families to provide some degree of reassurance. I think that there’s a lot of practitioners out there in the primary care setting that just want a little bit of reassurance about how they’re proceeding with care and the families just want a little bit more advice from the specialist. We can provide that reassurance through eConsults and it doesn’t always have to be in person. Another myth, all postoperative patients must follow up with their surgeon that did the surgery. This is a myth. There are some surgeries done by orthopedic surgeons that do not require definitive follow-up. A lot of a lot of these issues can be addressed by someone in the primary care setting. This is especially a value to those folks who live far away or don’t have the resources to travel and whatnot. And eConsults can be helpful in the postoperative patient.
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)