April 2022

Preparing for Increased Wait Times for Patients

Sometimes referring a patient to see a specialist is unavoidable. As we head into the spring season, many patients will be contacting their primary care provider to address their health concerns, many of whom might need to see a Specialist and this may result in longer wait times. The good news is that the Specialist advice you receive via eConsult can be used to manage patient care while they are waiting to see a Specialist in-person.

You can send any eConsult to a specialist to seek advice on:

• If a referral is required
• What tests to order in preparation for your patient’s Specialist visit 
• How to manage your patient's care while they wait to see a Specialist
• Confirm a proposed treatment plan
• Get recommendations for medications

Exciting News!

With the addition of four new specialists to the eConsult Program for Erie St. Clair, we now have over 100 local specialists available to respond to your eConsults.



• Endocrinologist – Dr. Firas Mohammad Riyazuddin joins the eConsult Program as an endocrinologist specialist.
• Internal Medicine – Dr. Lawrence Jacobs joins the eConsult Program as an internal medicine specialist.
• Pediatrics – Dr. Omar Afandi joins the eConsult Program as a pediatric specialist.
• Pediatrics – Dr. Zil-e-huma Sheikh joins the eConsult Program as a pediatric specialist.

If there are local specialists whom you would like to see on eConsult, please let us know and we will reach out to them. It is always great to have the specialists who you reach out to now, also available on the eConsult Program.

SEAMO's accredited eConsult webinar series

Join us for half-hour sessions about the benefits of eConsult in your

practices. Attend one or all 8 webinars to receive up to 4 credits from theCollege of Family Physicians + the Royal College!

Missed the session? Watch the recording here and email seamo.communication@queensu.ca to let us know so you can receive the credits! 

Ways to Connect to Specialists in eConsult

Use the Direct-to-Specialist Model when you have a specific specialist in mind that you know is supporting eConsult. Find Specialist by Name and Specialty.

Find Specialist by Name and Speciality

Use the Provincial BASE TM Managed Specialty option where you can access 90+ specialty groups.

Use the Erie St Clair Regional Base group option to access 20 local specialty groups when creating a new eConsult.

Setting Availability Option for Specialists

If you are going to be an unavailable for a period of time, you can set an out-of-office notification.

During the out-of-office period, the specialist's name within search results appears in a red colour along with the return-to-office date.

• To access the calendar options, click the checkbox beside the Unavailable Dates field.

Start date and End Date fields appear.

• To identify the start date, type a date using the format yyyy-mm-dd or use the calendar widget to select a date.

To use the calendar widget, click beside a date field and then:

• To select a day, click the date.
• To change the month displayed,
• To move forward or backward one month at a time, click the arrows beside the month name – previous or next.
• To view a drop-down list of all months in the year, click the month name.
• To change the year displayed, click the month name and then click the year in the title bar.
• To reset the calendar widget to the current date, refresh your browser (Ctrl+F5).

To identify the end date, type a date using the format yyyy-mm-dd or use the calendar widget to select a date.

To save the settings, click submit.

If all is okay, the settings screen reloads and a success message appears.

If there is an error, an error message appears. Correct the error and try again.

Ontario eServices Program: eReferral

eReferral is a secure and seamless transfer of patient information from one point of care system into another, via an electronic platform for the purpose of engaging another provider in the care of a patient.



• The program is funded to provide local change management resources to support implementation, training, adoption, and sustained use
• The solution-generated data enables comprehensive analytics to support local and system level decision making
• Referral status and appointment details are updated directly in providers EMRs (Telus PS Suite EMR, Accuro EMR and Oscar EMR) or the Ocean Portal (non-EMR users)
• Patients received automatic email notifications on their referral status and appointment information
• This eReferral initiative has been funded since 2017 as part of the System Coordinated Access Program (now part of the Ontario eServices Program)

Looking for more information? Contact us at DigitalHealth@transformsso.ca

Why Set your eConsult Priority Regions?

• Setting your priority region to Erie St Clair gives access to local specialists within the Erie St Clair regional based managed specialty groups automatically
• Without setting priority regions, cases can only be sent to provincial groups



Book a Team Training Session

Are you part of or run a family practice, community health centre or hospital unit? Reach out to us today to book a group training session for your fellow staff.

We can cover:

• How to create an OTNHub account
• How to submit any eConsult directly to a Specialist
• How to submit any eConsult to an Erie St. Clair Regional Specialty Group
• How to utilize a delegate to save time

Email us at digitalhealth@tranformsso.ca to book your session today.

Contact Us

For more information on anything in this email, or to schedule a follow-up appointment with our team, please contact us at the email listed below.

Darren Hopper

Windsor / Essex

Change Management and Adoption Coordinator

Darren.Hopper@transformsso.ca

Matthew McAvoy

Chatham-Kent / Sarnia-Lambton

Change Management and Adoption Coordinator

Matthew.McAvoy@transformsso.ca

Resources:

https://econsultontario.ca/resources/