PORTLAND, Ore., April 26, 2021 – OCHIN, a national nonprofit health IT organization that advances health equity by transforming health care delivery, announced a new technology partnership agreement with AristaMD that will expand virtual access GP consult services for nearly 6 million underserved patients across the country.
Through AristaMD, an innovative telehealth platform that delivers timely and documented specialist insights via electronic consultation services (known as eConsults), primary care providers in the OCHIN network now have access to additional resources for more rapid and integrated virtual health care delivery. By launching eConsults to AristaMD’s network directly from within their OCHIN Epic electronic health record (EHR) system, providers have more options for seamless collaboration with a panel of contracted on-call specialists and can implement guidance that’s recommended for individual patient follow up.
“We are pleased to add AristaMD’s eConsult service to our growing suite of provider technology solutions,” said Nicole Klassen Ellington, Vice President of Innovation and Improvement at OCHIN. “eConsults are an important tool for improving access to specialists for the millions of patients in rural and underserved communities who rely on our network of care providers to meet them where they are.”
eConsults have been shown to replace more than 70% of referrals to specialists for routine clinical issues and significantly impact treatment plans more than 90% of the time. GP consult services allow primary care physicians to work with more than 70 specialties and sub-specialties to improve patient care. Our contracted telehealth specialists typically respond to eConsults in less than four hours.
“Our country suffers from a severe specialist shortage and many patients are waiting too long to get care,” said Brooke LeVasseur, CEO of AristaMD. “Our partnership with OCHIN is an important step toward ensuring all patients have timely access to care, regardless of where they live or their insurance status.”
About OCHIN
OCHIN is a driving force for health equity. A national nonprofit health IT organization with two decades of experience transforming health care delivery, OCHIN provides leading-edge technology, data analytics, research, and support services to more than 500 community health care sites, reaching nearly 6 million patients. We partner, learn, innovate, and advocate to close gaps in health care that are systemic, avoidable, and unjust, so that everyone has a fair opportunity to achieve their full health potential. Learn more at www.ochin.org.