ArticleBMJ open2016
What are the cost savings associated with providing access to specialist care through the Champlain BASE eConsult service? A costing evaluation.
Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Digitally supported interprofessional interaction in healthcare-a scoping review.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Pooled it
- Electronic consultations (E-consults) and their outcomes: a systematic review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Reimagining the family physician-specialist relationship amid the primary care crisis: Harnessing power for better collaboration.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Article
- Perceptions, facilitators and barriers of digital interdisciplinary consultation: a qualitative study.Family practice · 2025Article
- Increased access to pediatric specialist healthcare using eConsult: A retrospective observational cohort and case-control study.Paediatrics & child health · 2025Article
- The Utilization of Electronic Consultations (eConsults) to Address Emerging Questions Related to Long COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada: Mixed Methods Analysis.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- The Application of Preventive Medicine in the Future Digital Health Era.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Review
- Ontario Primary Care Practitioners and Access to Ophthalmologists Through Electronic Consultation.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Physician-to-Physician eConsultations to Ophthalmologists at an Academic Medical Center.Translational vision science & technology · 2024Article
- Laboratory reference intervals influence referral patterns for hemoglobin abnormalities in the Ontario virtual care system.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
- Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians' and Specialists' Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- A qualitative investigation of uninsured patient and primary care provider perspectives on specialty care eConsults.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- An eConsultant versus a hospital-based outpatient consultation for general (internal) medicine: a costing analysis.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Evaluation of BASE eConsult Manitoba: patient perspectives on the use of electronic consultation to improve access to specialty advice in Manitoba.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Scaling-Up eConsult: Promising Strategies to Address Enabling Factors in Four Jurisdictions in Canada.International journal of health policy and management · 2023Review
- Transforming healthcare delivery: a descriptive study of a novel provider-to-provider virtual care platform.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Evaluation of the First Year(s) of Physicians Collaboration on an Interdisciplinary Electronic Consultation Platform in the Netherlands: Mixed Methods Observational Study.JMIR human factors · 2022Article
- Barriers and Benefits of the Scheduled Telephone Referral Model (DETELPROG): A Qualitative Approach.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study estimates the costs and potential savings associated with all eConsult cases completed between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.
designCosting evaluation from the societal perspective estimating the costs and potential savings associated with all eConsults completed during the study period.
settingChamplain health region in Eastern Ontario, Canada. POPULATION: Primary care providers and specialists registered to use the eConsult service.
main outcome measuresCosts included (1) delivery costs; (2) specialist remuneration; (3) costs associated with traditional (face-to-face) referrals initiated as a result of eConsult. Potential savings included (1) costs of traditional referrals avoided; (2) indirect patient savings through avoided travel and lost wages/productivity. Net potential societal cost savings were estimated by subtracting total costs from total potential savings.
resultsA total of 3487 eConsults were completed during the study period. In 40% of eConsults, a face-to-face specialist visit was originally contemplated but avoided as result of eConsult. In 3% of eConsults, a face-to-face specialist visit was not originally contemplated but was prompted as a result of the eConsult. From the societal perspective, total costs were estimated at $207 787 and total potential savings were $246 516. eConsult led to a net societal saving of $38 729 or $11 per eConsult.
conclusionsOur findings demonstrate potential cost savings from the societal perspective, as patients avoided the travel costs and lost wages/productivity associated with face-to-face specialist visits. Greater savings are expected once we account for other costs such as avoided tests and visits and potential improved health outcomes associated with shorter wait times. Our findings are valuable for healthcare delivery decision-makers as they seek solutions to improve care in a patient-centred and efficient manner.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.