SynthesisJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA2020
Electronic consultations (E-consults) and their outcomes: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 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
72 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Family Physician-to-Hospital Specialist Electronic Consultation and Access to Hospital Care: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of a Multi-specialty E-consultation Service on Hospital Referrals: An Interrupted Time-Series Study in the Netherlands.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Referral delays in metastatic breast cancer care: barriers and facilitators across a fragmented pathway.BMJ open quality · 2026Article
- Primary care providers and their needs caring for cancer survivors: a qualitative study.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Real-Time Expert Support for Addiction Care Across General Medical Settings: Evaluation of a Chat-Based Intervention.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Hepatology e-consult responses generated by artificial intelligence demonstrate accuracy but require human oversight.Hepatology communications · 2026Article
- Leveraging an Electronic Consultation Program for a High-Volume Hepatology Clinic.Clinical and translational gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Examining the Role of a Comprehensive eConsult System to Enhance Access to Nephrology Care.Kidney medicine · 2026Article
- "I Am Reluctant to Continue, Yet Know She Could Go into Withdrawal": A Qualitative Analysis of Clinician Requests for eConsults in Opioid Management in the Ambulatory Setting.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Provider networks for pulmonary hypertension in Massachusetts: implications for improving referrals to expert care.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Article
- Evaluation of an interdisciplinary electronic consultation service between general practitioners and medical specialists in The Netherlands: a prospective cohort study.Family practice · 2026Article
- Differences in Electronic Consultation Conversion Rates Between Advanced Practice Providers and Board-Certified Dermatologists.JMIR dermatology · 2026Article
- The Strategic Advantage of FQHCs in Implementing Mobile Health Units: Lessons Learned from a Pilot Initiative.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Observational
- Implementation of a stroke/TIA e-consult increases outpatient stroke Teleneurology consults placed in VHA compared to community care.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Design and implementation of a patient management system for coordination of theranostics care at a major referral center.Clinical imaging · 2026Article
- Article
- From bedside to bytes: the digital transformation of the healthcare workforce.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Review
- Uptake of video telehealth in general practice: an Australian whole-of-population analysis.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Collaboration between general practitioners and psychiatrists via digital platforms in the Netherlands: advantages and specific limiting factors.BMC primary care · 2025Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveElectronic consultations (e-consults) are clinician-to-clinician communications that may obviate face-to-face specialist visits. E-consult programs have spread within the US and internationally despite limited data on outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of the recent peer-reviewed literature on the effect of e-consults on access, cost, quality, and patient and clinician experience and identified the gaps in existing research on these outcomes. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe searched 4 databases for empirical studies published between 1/1/2015 and 2/28/2019 that reported on one or more outcomes of interest. Two investigators reviewed titles and abstracts. One investigator abstracted information from each relevant article, and another confirmed the abstraction. We applied the GRADE criteria for the strength of evidence for each outcome.
resultsWe found only modest empirical evidence for effectiveness of e-consults on important outcomes. Most studies are observational and within a single health care system, and comprehensive assessments are lacking. For those outcomes that have been reported, findings are generally positive, with mixed results for clinician experience. These findings reassure but also raise concern for publication bias.
conclusionDespite stakeholder enthusiasm and encouraging results in the literature to date, more rigorous study designs applied across all outcomes are needed. Policy makers need to know what benefits may be expected in what contexts, so they can define appropriate measures of success and determine how to achieve them.
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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.