HITS eHealth Office
eConsult Insider
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In the Fall of 2018, responsibility for deploying eConsult across the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) region was transitioned to the HITS eHealth Office at Hamilton Health Sciences. Since this time, we have actively been working with individuals like you to enable your OTN eConsult access, and provide you with training to optimize your use.
As the next step of our journey, we have created the first of our new quarterly newsletters, to further share what’s happening with eConsult, both within HNHB and across the province.
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What Specialists are Available in eConsult?
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Across the province, there are
645
active specialists available to you through OTN’s eConsult service.
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Within HNHB specifically, we have
78 active specialists
, representing
42 specialties
. For those who are looking to engage with specialists closer to home, we will be creating an HNHB Regional BASE™ Managed Groups in the coming months.
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Use the
Direct-to-Specialist Model
when you have a specific specialist that you know is supporting eConsult.
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Use the
Provincial BASE
TM
Managed Specialty
option
where you can access
85+
specialty groups.
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Nurse Practitioners can send eConsults as primary care providers
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How are family physicians and specialists compensated for using eConsult?
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Services that are part of eConsult are available at
no cost
to the patient or provider. Family physicians who send eConsults can bill OHIP for the consult using the K738 Fee Code.
Specialists who respond to eConsults are reimbursed at an
hourly rate of $200, pro-rated
, by the eConsult Centre of Excellence.
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“The system is GREAT. I received a response back the very next day,
which I was delighted to receive.”
– Dr. Maria Cescon, Lincoln Medical Centre
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eConsult Impact in 2018/2019
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$50.00
Average Cost per eConsult
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1.1 Days
Median Specialist Response Time
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2,860
eConsults Provided by HNHB Specialists
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Ontario
- Dermatology
- Hematology
- Endocrinology & Metabolism
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Neurology
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HNHB
- Dermatology
- Hematology
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Endocrinology & Metabolism
- Orthopedic Surgery
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# of Active Primary Care Providers
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“I sent out an eConsult and just got a response to my questions in two days!
I like the eConsult service now that I know it works quickly.”
– Dr. Nibal Lubbad, Grimsby Medical Clinic
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How can I optimize my usage of eConsult?
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Use a Delegate
Administration staff can use eConsult on behalf of a Primary Care Provider to:
- Retrieve new eConsult requests from EMRs and create new cases
- Be notified of specialists that have responded to an eConsult
- Add eConsult responses to patients' charts in the EMR
- As per Primary Care Provider's instruction, submit follow up questions or respond to surveys to complete the case
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Integrate with your EMR
OntarioMD and OTN continue to work together with OntarioMD certified EMR vendors to improve your workflow process when using eConsult by developing and implementing eConsult integrations. Currently, eConsult is available through QHR’s Accuro and OSCAR EMR’s KAI solutions. We will continue to update you as new EMR integrations become available.
If you are interested in having access to eConsult through your EMR, please note you must have:
- A ONE ID account that is unlocked and active;
- Current access to eConsult through OTNHub;
- Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS) access;
- Use of an OntarioMD-certified EMR offering from a vendor participating in the initiative. At this time the participating certified EMR offerings are Accuro EMR and OSCAR EMR (Kai).
Please let us know if these requirements have been met and we can put you in touch with OntarioMD to initiate the setup process.
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“
I did my first eConsult last week to the Provincial Dermatology group. It was a fantastic experience. It was easy to do after the training you provided. I got a response within a day, and I have already instituted the recommendations. I'm so glad I signed up!
”
– Elizabeth Wojtowicz, Nurse Practitioner at Chartwell LTC
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Inherited Heart Rhythm Disorders
You can now access hard-to-find adult and pediatric Inherited Heart Rhythm Disorder specialists on the Ontario eConsult Service.
Specialists from across Ontario, including Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto and Hamilton, provide province-wide consultative services to clinicians on inherited and genetic heart rhythm disorders, such as:
- Long QT Syndrome (LQTS)
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Brugada syndrome
- Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS)
How do I submit a case to this specialty?
Both primary care providers and specialists from across Ontario (e.g cardiologists) can submit cases to these groups by clicking “Request Consult” in the top left of their eConsult page, choosing “BASE™ Managed Specialty” and selecting:
- Cardiology – Inherited Heart Rhythm Disorders – Provincial
- Cardiology – Pediatric Inherited Heart Rhythm Disorders – Provincial
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HNHB Regional BASE™Specialty Groups
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For those who are looking to engage with specialists closer to home, we will be creating HNHB Regional BASE™Managed Groups in the coming months. Specialists will be contacted shortly to determine interest in proceeding. Please watch for further updates next quarter.
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Ontario Health Teams and eConsult
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The Ontario government is building a connected health care system centred around patients, families and caregivers, whereby patients will receive all their care, including primary care, hospital services, mental health and addiction services, long-term care, and home and community care from one team. To ensure success, digital health solutions, like eConsult, will be leveraged to support effective health care delivery and better patient experience.
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Increasing adoption of digital health tools like eConsult is highlighted as a Year 1 expectation of Ontario Health Teams
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For more information on anything in this email, or to schedule a follow-up appointment with our team, please contact us by our phone number or email listed below.
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