NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Community eConsult Network, Inc. (CECN), a subsidiary of Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC), Connecticut's largest primary care provider for the underserved, and Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative web-based healthcare tools for organizations assisting underserved populations, today announced a nationwide expansion of CECN/CHC to improve access to specialty care services for patients of health centers throughout the U.S.
This expansion of eConsult services aims to extend the outstanding results of the New England eConsult Network to the rest of the nation through Federally Qualified Health Centers and other primary practice (including private) partnerships. The national rollout includes increasing the number of eConsult specialty fields. CECN/CHC will partner with TeleMed2U to provide specialty care consults to rurally located patients, allowing them to receive the care they need without having to travel many miles to a specialty clinic.
“This exciting national expansion is inspired by the extremely positive outcomes we have seen throughout New England,” said Daren Anderson, MD, Director of Weitzman Institute, and Vice President, Chief Quality Officer of CHC. “Over the coming months we will be working closely with SNC, TeleMed2U, and clinics across America to replicate these outcomes on a nationwide scale. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of millions of underserved individuals.”
Since its inception, CECN/CHC has increased access to timely, cost-effective specialty services for New England’s underinsured and underserved patients, many of whom live in rural areas with limited access to specialty care. These patients struggled with long appointment wait times and delayed care. To date, CECN/CHC has facilitated over 1000 electronic clinical consultations between PCPs from CHC and Penobscot Community Health Care – Maine's largest federally FQHC – and specialty physicians at UConn Health in fields such as Cardiology, Dermatology, and Endocrinology. The CECN/CHC initiative has demonstrated an ability to provide eConsults for patients in less than one day on average, and to date 89 percent of participating patients’ specialty needs are resolved within the medical home.
How eConsult Works. When a patient has a health complaint that may need specialty attention, their PCP can use eConsult to submit questions and relevant information such as chart notes and lab results via a web-based, HIPAA compliant communication system developed by SNC. This easy-to-use system provides step-by-step decision support and built-in specialty-specific referral guidelines to efficiently triage patients’ needs; participating specialists provide recommendations for diagnosis, treatment, and referral. While some patients may need to see a specialist, a majority of eConsults provide PCPs with the necessary recommendations to manage patients in the primary care setting with no need for a face-to-face consult, resulting in improved efficiency and patient care.
“The beauty of the eConsult system is that its reach knows no geographic boundaries,” said Chris Cruttenden, president of SNC. “Because this is an Internet-based network, we have the ability to partner with marvelous organizations like CHC and TeleMed2U to offer high quality, timely specialty care to millions of people – whether near or far, rural or urban, insured or underinsured. With technology-based solutions like eConsult, disparities and inequity no longer overshadow an individual’s ability to receive quality healthcare.”
About Community Health Center
Since 1972, Community Health Center, Inc. has been one of the leading healthcare providers in the state of Connecticut, building a world-class primary health care system committed to caring for uninsured and underserved populations. CHC is focused on improving health outcomes for its more than 130,000 patients as well as building healthy communities. Recognized as both a Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and a Primary Care Medical Home by The Joint Commission, CHC delivers service in more than 200 locations statewide, offering primary care in medical, dental and behavioral health services. For more information, visit www.chc1.com
About Safety Net Connect
Since 2009, Safety Net Connect (SNC) has partnered with public and private organizations to provide a multitude of successful and nationally recognized web-based healthcare solutions for underserved and safety net populations. SNC’s innovative solutions have reached over 5 million patients from clients such as Los Angeles Department of Health Services (LADHS), MedPoint, LA Care, Orange County Healthcare Agency, CalOptima, San Diego Healthcare Agency, and Cook County MHN (an Illinois Medicaid Project). For more information, please visit www.safetynetconnect.com
