e-consults at Akron Children's
e-consults provide primary care physicians and patients a way to seek specialty guidance for straightforward problems that may not need in-person evaluation. Information between providers and patients can be shared more efficiently by adapting health care communication for convenience and access to specialty services.
Benefits to Referring Providers:
e-consults may enable referring providers to:
- Get answers to specific clinical questions.
- Obtain the appropriate labs or imaging, improving the in-person experience.
- Co-manage patient cases.
- Expedite the in-person evaluation, if needed.
Benefits to Patients
- Improves access to specialty services and streamlines communication.
- May eliminate an in-person visit.
Helpful tips for e-consults
Suggested talking points to use when discussing e-consults with a patient:
- "I'd like to talk to an Akron Children’s specialist for advice on what you are experiencing. This is called an e-consult."
- "An e-consult eases the inconvenience of having to see a specialist in person and provides timely answers."
- "An e-consult would be billed to insurance and, as a patient, you may be responsible for any non-covered charges."
Contact the Help Line at:
330-543-6248
emrsupportteam@akronchildrens.org
To perform an e-consult, please refer to the Epic Training guide ECL e-consult Workflow.
Q: What is an e-consult?
A: An e-consult is an interprofessional telephone, internet or electronic health record (EHR) consultation between two providers for a new or established patient, initiated in Epic or EpicCare Link.
Q: Who can request an e-consult, and who can complete an e-consult?
A: Any licensed advanced practice provider or physician may request an e-consult.
Q: When should an e-consult be placed?
A: Anytime the patient would benefit from the input of a specialist regarding co-management or diagnosis.
Q: What types of questions are not appropriate to send via e-consult?
A. e-consults should not be used for urgent or emergent questions. e-consults should not be used to circumvent established scheduling practices or to secure an earlier appointment for a patient if not clinically warranted.
Q: Who is responsible for obtaining the family’s verbal consent for the e-consult service and how is it documented?
A: The requesting provider should obtain verbal consent from the family. The current charge is $72, and the family may be responsible for charges not covered by insurance. Consent is to be documented in Epic or EpicCare Link.
Q: How long do specialists have to complete the e-consult?
A: Three business days.
Q: If a patient has an e-consult and ends up being seen in-person within 14 days, does the consultant provider still receive their wRVUs for performing the e-consult?
A: No. An e-consult cannot be billed if the patient had an encounter with that specialty 14 days before or 14 days after the e-consult.
Akron Children’s e-consults are available for the following specialties:
- Addiction Services
- Adolescent Medicine
- Allergy and Immunology
- Behavioral Health (Psychiatry and Psychology)
- Dermatology
- Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
- Ear, Nose and Throat
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- Genetics
- Healthy Active Living (Weight Management)
- Heart Center (Arrhythmia, Adult Congenital Heart Services, Fetal Cardiology, Single Ventricle Program, Syncope Clinic)
- Hematology/Oncology
- Infectious Disease
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Obstetrics/Gynecology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedics
- Pediatric Surgery
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Rheumatology
- Sleep Medicine
- Sports Medicine
