Purpose: To demonstrate our facility’s process of successful integration of hematology electronic consultations to provide patient-centered, efficient and effective outpatient specialty care.
Background: The hematology/oncology section lost a nurse practitioner in 2013. As a way to provide continued high quality and timely care to hematology patients, electronic consultation was broadly implemented within the section.
Methods: A comprehensive electronic consultation program was established as per the Specialty Care Transformation Initiative guidelines. All Hematology consults (face to face or electronic) are addressed by the section chief.
Results: Since 2012, the section has answered over 3,600 consults electronically. In 2016 there were a total of 1,160 electronic consults placed to the service. Each year since 2012 the percentage of outpatient hematology volume that is addressed by electronic consultations has increased. During 2016, 78% of outpatient hematology volume was addressed electronically. Additionally, 85% of those patients treated with electronic consultations did not require a face to face visit within the subsequent 12 months of initial electronic consultation. Based on zip code analysis of those Veterans who had electronic consultations in 2016, we estimated that there were over 1,200 hours of driving time and nearly 70,000 miles of driving distance saved.
Conclusions: Many VAMCs are using electronic consultation to provide efficient and patient-centered specialty care. Our center has quantified the impact of successful implementation and looks to share our experience with others. Additionally, during poster presentation we will provide a toolkit for implementation, to include templated consult notes for specific hematologic conditions.