eConsult: Built to Support the New Contract
eConsult is already configured to help you keep online access open for the duration of your core hours, in line with the October GP contract requirements.
Here are the key features we’ve built to help you safely manage online consultations.
Automated flagging & structured information gathering
Instead of sifting through a list of unvetted free-text requests, eConsult provides a pre-screened, structured approach to gathering patient information.
Intelligent Flagging System: eConsult helps to determine acuity by assigning a flag level to each answer. This gives a clear indication of urgency before anyone has reviewed the request, so that your team can triage in order of clinical need.
Safe Management of Urgent Requests: The flagging system automatically directs patients with emergency symptoms away from the practice. You can also choose to accept urgent eConsults, to further reduce phone traffic.
Structured Questioning: eConsult asks condition-specific questions, the same as you would in a face-to-face appointment, enabling you to make fast and safe triage decisions without back-and-forth communication with the patient.
Demand management
Through eConsult you have full control and can instantly close clinical, admin or both, so that you never receive more eConsults than you can manage.
eConsult’s admin pathways allow patients to contact the practice for non-urgent requests, including: test results, sick notes, medication queries, GP letters and medical reports. Coming soon: smear tests and injections/vaccinations.
Alternatively, you’re able to cap clinical and admin separately, or set a combined cap across all requests, so that eConsult will automatically close once capacity is reached. Please see below for help setting a cap.
Equity of access
eConsult Lite provides your reception team with a structured form to record submissions from patients who contact the practice by phone or in person, which is then received in the same way as an online request. This allows you to triage phone, in person and online requests from a single queue giving equal access to all patients, regardless of how they contact you.
Signposting
eConsult signposts patients to alternative services, including pharmacies and self-help. You also have the ability to add your own local services for specific conditions. This ensures patients are informed of alternative services before contacting the practice, helping manage demand by guiding patients toward appropriate external care.
Thinking about moving to a Total Triage Model?
If you're considering making the move to total triage, you can check out our guide here with case studies and a full checklist to guide you through this transition.
Patient messaging
To successfully get patients onboard, you need to help them understand the "why" behind eConsult, not just the "how." The key is to share the benefits both for the practice and, most importantly, for them as patients.
Please see below some suggested messaging. We recommend personalising this to your practice and including some data, like your average call wait time, to make the benefits more tangible to patients:
We're making a change to how we manage appointments and patient requests to ensure everyone gets the right care as quickly as possible. This is called 'eConsult,' and it's a new way to contact the practice online.
For the practice, eConsult will help us to manage the high number of requests we get each day, and prioritise patients based on clinical need, instead of a first come first served basis. This means that same-day appointments are saved for the patients who need them most.
For you, this means you can submit a query online and get a response or appointment without waiting on the phone. It also helps us direct you to the best person to help, whether that's a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. This ensures you get the right care, at the right time.
You can find the link to eConsult on our website homepage. Our reception team is also here to help if you have any questions.
Setting a cap
If you would like to set a cap, calculate backwards from the number of available same-day appointments and the percentage of eConsults you typically assign to them (this data is available on your reporting dashboard). E.g. if you have 100 same day appointments available, and you tend to triage 50% of eConsults to same day appointments, your cap should be 200. If you’re unsure, set your cap lower than predicted and gradually increase it.
Triage tips
Triage should not take more than one minute per eConsult - the biggest eConsult users take an average of 45 seconds to triage. Experienced eConsult practices have one person triaging a list size of 40,000. Tips from our top triagers:
You don't need to read every question and answer, trust eConsult's flagging system to highlight concerning symptoms. Focus on the free-text responses and flagged answers to quickly make a decision.
For patient requests that can be resolved without an appointment but require a little more time, use a 'quick win' tag and return to it later in the day.
Drafting every message from scratch is time-consuming. Use eConsult's template manager to create shared templates for your entire practice.
Resources
Total Triage Webinar: On Thursday 24th July three practices joined us to sharetheir experiences of using eConsult's total triage model, and their thoughts on the new contract requirements. Click here to watch the recording, or read the summary.
Guidance pages: https://help.econsult.health/en/
Case studies
Silverdale Practice achieved a 59% drop in call volumes and reduced stress for staff.
Guildhall Surgery saw call volumes between 8am and 9am drop by 85%.
More case studies can be found on our website.
Want to set up a call with our team?
Email us on practice.support@econsult.health and we’ll be in touch.
Ideas or suggestions around the new contract?
Email us on gp.contract@econsult.health and we’ll get back to you.