Examining Differences in Utilization of the Ontario eConsult Service in Rural Versus Urban Settings: A Retrospective...

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Digital Health Equity
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Rural populations face significant barriers accessing specialist healthcare.
• The Ontario eConsult Service aims to bridge geographical disparities in specialist care access.
• This study investigates eConsult's role in enhancing healthcare equity for rural patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze usage patterns and outcomes of urban versus rural eConsults.
• To evaluate the impact of eConsult on equity of specialist care access in rural Ontario.
• To compare the frequency, specialty requests, response times, and costs of eConsults between rural and urban primary care providers.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of Ontario eConsult cases from January 1 to December 31, 2021.
• Inclusion of all submitted eConsult cases, with rural cases identified by PCP practice location.
• Analysis of usage data and mandatory closeout survey responses using descriptive statistics.

Main Results:

• Out of 72,948 total cases, 7,550 were classified as rural.
• Rural and urban primary care providers exhibited similar eConsult usage frequency and patterns.
• Median response times (1.0 day), billed time (15 min), and cost per case ($50) were comparable between rural and urban groups.

Conclusions:

• Primary care providers in rural and urban settings utilize eConsult services with equal frequency.
• eConsult demonstrates similar usage patterns and outcomes across both rural and urban patient populations.
• The Ontario eConsult Service effectively supports equitable access to specialist care, irrespective of geographical location.