Endocrinology Auto-Triggered e-Consults

Diabetes currently affects 25.8 million people in the U.S. Patients with diabetes are generally managed, at least initially, by a primary care practitioner (PCP). As the prevalence of diabetes continues to rise, PCPs are under increased pressure to achieve recommended glycemic targets. Failure to achieve these targets has been shown to increase clinical complications and cost of care.

Endocrinology referral is common for those patients not meeting A1c goals. Unfortunately, access to specialty endocrinology care is limited and patients routinely wait weeks or months before being seen. Electronic consultation (e-consult) is a new and innovative delivery model that has the potential to provide greater access to specialty care. The current system at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) allows PCPs to electively place an e-consult to solicit specialist input. Specialists in turn review the patients chart, relevant data and the clinical question and respond within the electronic medical record. E-consults have been well received by both patients and physicians, not only at MGH, but also across many centers in the US. With that said, the e-consult system remains in its infancy and current literature largely focuses on process metrics without hard clinical end-points.

One way to optimize care for patients with diabetes is to automatically trigger an endocrinology e-consult for those not meeting A1c targets. The goal of this project will be to conduct a rigorous scientific evaluation of auto-triggered e-consults across Massachusetts General Hospitals affiliated primary care practices. The e-consults will be unsolicited and triggered based on inclusion criteria that include a1c and date of last PCP visit. This project will leverage an existing diabetes population health registry that is being used currently for ongoing diabetes care initiatives.