Wound Care: Anatomy of an eConsult
Kate McDonald, Vice President of Marketing at AristaMD
The typical process for requesting the consult includes a brief explanation of the patient’s chief complaint and background.
How did they get the wound? How old is the wound, what’s the prior treatment? You want to note all of those things as it’s sudden onset. For example, you’re going to attach the documentation that that’s relevant. You don’t have to attach everything, but what’s relevant to this particular patient and this particular photo of the wound? You can upload those through your EHR if you are integrated, or you can upload those using our phone app. If you’re using our referral nurse navigators, if the photo is loaded into the EHR, they’re gonna take care of all of that for you and make sure that it gets over to the wound care nurse for review.
Then, typically, with every eConsult, Myra or one of her counterparts will review the information you’ve shared. They will send any questions back through the platform if they have any questions. So you’ll be notified either in your HR or through the AristaMD Platform. If they don’t have any questions, they’re gonna send you your recommendations and some resources, and often they give amazing resources on room care, usually in the form of links and some patient education step-by-step instructions or, again, a link to further information on how to care. Once you get that response, you develop the treatment plan and request follow-up advice. And it operates just like a regular eConsult.
Creating Connections: Physician Consultation with Specialists
Physician consultation with a specialist is designed to remove barriers in our healthcare system that make referrals complex and challenging for PCPs and patients.
To optimize patient care, physicians are increasingly embracing tools and resources, including evolving telehealth solutions, that extend their clinical offering without delegating patient care. Electronic physician consultation, or eConsult, solutions are creating a peer-to-peer communication channel between individual PCPs and a range of specialists.
Using this technology, the providers can confer, share the patient’s medical history, and collaborate on a care plan. The patient remains in the capable hands of the PCP while benefiting from specialized medical expertise.
PCP referrals are the core of today’s healthcare
Physician-to-physician referrals play a central role in our healthcare system. Primary care providers (PCPs) deliver essential first-line health services that combat the specialist doctor shortage, including:
- Health promotion
- Disease prevention
- Health maintenance
- Counseling
- Patient education
- Diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses
However, PCPs also act as gatekeepers, referring patients to a wide range of specialists who have advanced training and expertise to ensure their patients have access to the highest quality care.
Kate McDonald
Vice President of Marketing, AristaMD
Kate, with her extensive 20-year marketing career in healthcare, business services, and technology, has left a significant impact. Her strategic planning and marketing operations have led to the creation of compelling content and campaigns, driving lead generation and boosting sales close rates. Notably, she spearheaded the introduction of telemedicine specialty services to rural and underserved hospitals in her most recent role. Kate holds a BA in Communications from George Mason University and an MBA from Georgia State University.
Kate’s a big baseball fan. She has been to 14 MLB stadiums and follows the Atlanta Braves and the Baltimore Orioles. Now that her daughter has left for college, she spends her time hiking, traveling and visiting museums with friends. Her Bedlington terrier and calico cat kept her busy during the 2020 lockdown.