Jatinderpreet Singh, Erin Keely, Sheena Guglani, Gary Garber, Clare Liddy
{"title":"2019冠状病毒病大流行期间电子会诊服务的利用","authors":"Jatinderpreet Singh, Erin Keely, Sheena Guglani, Gary Garber, Clare Liddy","doi":"10.1089/tmj.2021.0497","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b><i>Objective:</i></b> The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced many clinicians to rapidly adopt changes in their practice. In this study, we compared patterns of utilization of Ontario eConsult before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, to assess COVID 19's impact on how eConsult is used. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> We conducted a longitudinal analysis of registration and utilization data for Ontario eConsult. All primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists who joined the service between March 2019 and November 2020, and all eConsult cases closed during the same period were included. The data were divided into two timeframes for comparison: prepandemic (March 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-November 2020). <b><i>Results:</i></b> In total, 5,925 PCPs joined during the study period, more than doubling total enrollment to 11,397. The average monthly number of eConsults increased from 2,405 (standard deviation [SD] = 260) prepandemic to 3,906 (SD = 420) pandemic. Case volume jumped to 24.3% in the first month of the pandemic, and increased by 71% during the COVID-19 pandemic timeframe. The median response time was similar in both timeframes (prepandemic: 1.0 days; pandemic: 0.9 days). The proportion of cases resulting in new/additional information (prepandemic: 55%, pandemic: 57%) or avoidance of a contemplated referral (prepandemic: 52%, pandemic: 51%) remained consistent between timeframes. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Registration to and usage of eConsult increased during the pandemic. Metrics of the service's impact, including response time, percentage of cases resulting in new or additional information, and avoidance of originally contemplated referrals were all consistent between the prepandemic and COVID-19 pandemic timeframes, suggesting scalability.</p>","PeriodicalId":520784,"journal":{"name":"Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association","volume":" ","pages":"994-1000"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"6","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The Utilization of an Electronic Consultation Service During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.\",\"authors\":\"Jatinderpreet Singh, Erin Keely, Sheena Guglani, Gary Garber, Clare Liddy\",\"doi\":\"10.1089/tmj.2021.0497\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p><b><i>Objective:</i></b> The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced many clinicians to rapidly adopt changes in their practice. In this study, we compared patterns of utilization of Ontario eConsult before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, to assess COVID 19's impact on how eConsult is used. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> We conducted a longitudinal analysis of registration and utilization data for Ontario eConsult. All primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists who joined the service between March 2019 and November 2020, and all eConsult cases closed during the same period were included. The data were divided into two timeframes for comparison: prepandemic (March 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-November 2020). <b><i>Results:</i></b> In total, 5,925 PCPs joined during the study period, more than doubling total enrollment to 11,397. The average monthly number of eConsults increased from 2,405 (standard deviation [SD] = 260) prepandemic to 3,906 (SD = 420) pandemic. Case volume jumped to 24.3% in the first month of the pandemic, and increased by 71% during the COVID-19 pandemic timeframe. The median response time was similar in both timeframes (prepandemic: 1.0 days; pandemic: 0.9 days). The proportion of cases resulting in new/additional information (prepandemic: 55%, pandemic: 57%) or avoidance of a contemplated referral (prepandemic: 52%, pandemic: 51%) remained consistent between timeframes. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Registration to and usage of eConsult increased during the pandemic. Metrics of the service's impact, including response time, percentage of cases resulting in new or additional information, and avoidance of originally contemplated referrals were all consistent between the prepandemic and COVID-19 pandemic timeframes, suggesting scalability.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":520784,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"994-1000\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-07-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"6\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2021.0497\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2021/12/3 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"Epub\",\"JCR\":\"\",\"JCRName\":\"\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2021.0497","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/12/3 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
The Utilization of an Electronic Consultation Service During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.
Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced many clinicians to rapidly adopt changes in their practice. In this study, we compared patterns of utilization of Ontario eConsult before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, to assess COVID 19's impact on how eConsult is used. Materials and Methods: We conducted a longitudinal analysis of registration and utilization data for Ontario eConsult. All primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists who joined the service between March 2019 and November 2020, and all eConsult cases closed during the same period were included. The data were divided into two timeframes for comparison: prepandemic (March 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-November 2020). Results: In total, 5,925 PCPs joined during the study period, more than doubling total enrollment to 11,397. The average monthly number of eConsults increased from 2,405 (standard deviation [SD] = 260) prepandemic to 3,906 (SD = 420) pandemic. Case volume jumped to 24.3% in the first month of the pandemic, and increased by 71% during the COVID-19 pandemic timeframe. The median response time was similar in both timeframes (prepandemic: 1.0 days; pandemic: 0.9 days). The proportion of cases resulting in new/additional information (prepandemic: 55%, pandemic: 57%) or avoidance of a contemplated referral (prepandemic: 52%, pandemic: 51%) remained consistent between timeframes. Conclusions: Registration to and usage of eConsult increased during the pandemic. Metrics of the service's impact, including response time, percentage of cases resulting in new or additional information, and avoidance of originally contemplated referrals were all consistent between the prepandemic and COVID-19 pandemic timeframes, suggesting scalability.