Cost savings associated with electronic specialty consultations

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Economics
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Electronic consultations (e-consults) enhance access to specialist care and reduce wait times.
• Previous studies indicate e-consults can decrease outpatient visits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare healthcare costs between patients utilizing e-consults and those receiving traditional face-to-face specialist consultations.
• To identify specific cost differences in outpatient and inpatient settings.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of Veterans Health Administration patients from 2016.
• Propensity score matching (1:1) for e-consult and face-to-face consultation groups.
• Generalized linear model used to compare total, outpatient, and inpatient costs at 3 and 6 months post-consultation.

Main Results:

• Patients receiving e-consults experienced significantly lower total healthcare costs across 11 specialties, with savings ranging from 3.6% to 30.7%.
• Lower outpatient costs were observed for e-consult patients in all specialties except cardiology.
• Significant reductions in 3-month inpatient costs were noted in cardiology, nephrology, pulmonary, and gastroenterology for e-consult recipients.

Conclusions:

• E-consults represent a viable strategy for reducing overall healthcare expenditures.
• Implementing electronic specialty consultations can lead to more efficient utilization of healthcare resources.