Abstract:Background/ObjectiveA growing number of health systems have implemented eConsults to improve access to specialty advice, but few studies have described their use in rheumatology or impact on visit wait times. We evaluated the uptake of an eConsult program and its impact on wait times for in-person rheumatology visits.MethodsIn this quality improvement project, we analyzed electronic health record data from 4 intervention clinics and 4 comparison clinics, 12 months before and after implementation of an eConsult… Show more
“…In this issue of The Journal of Rheumatology, Kwok and colleagues report on the volumes and types of rheumatology visits for adults in Ontario, Canada, using population-level data, before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic. 1 Data on rheumatology consultations in the 3 years up to March 2020, the start of the pandemic, and 18 months after were extracted from the administrative databases in Ontario.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This approach has been used with success in responding to referrals for positive antinuclear antibody tests and referrals to rheumatology, both of which reduced wait times for new patient consultations. 18,19 These realworld studies used implementation and quality improvement science, which provides a different sort of evidence than the familiar RCT. Rheumatology practices adopting new models of care must plan to evaluate these as part of implementation.…”
Pandemics are disruptive. Transport, commerce, education, recreation, and health are all affected. As a rheumatology community, we should be particularly considering the effects on rheumatology care and patient outcomes.
“…In this issue of The Journal of Rheumatology, Kwok and colleagues report on the volumes and types of rheumatology visits for adults in Ontario, Canada, using population-level data, before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic. 1 Data on rheumatology consultations in the 3 years up to March 2020, the start of the pandemic, and 18 months after were extracted from the administrative databases in Ontario.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This approach has been used with success in responding to referrals for positive antinuclear antibody tests and referrals to rheumatology, both of which reduced wait times for new patient consultations. 18,19 These realworld studies used implementation and quality improvement science, which provides a different sort of evidence than the familiar RCT. Rheumatology practices adopting new models of care must plan to evaluate these as part of implementation.…”
Pandemics are disruptive. Transport, commerce, education, recreation, and health are all affected. As a rheumatology community, we should be particularly considering the effects on rheumatology care and patient outcomes.
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