SynerMed, Inc., the largest Medicaid managed service organization (MSO) in the country, in collaboration with L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today the launch of an e-consult pilot program. The program aims to increase collaboration between primary care physicians and specialists to improve the delivery of quality patient care. This partnership is one of the many health information technology projects that support L.A. Care’s primary care physicians in the implementation of telemedicine as outlined in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Approximately 150 high volume L.A. Care primary care physicians are eligible to participate in this pilot program, which allows them to consult electronically with certain specialists using SynerMed’s secure Web portal, SynerMedConnect. If this program proves successful, it may be made available to a larger group of L.A. Care’s provider network.
“L.A. Care believes that health information technology that improves health outcomes and efficiency should be available to all,” said Dr. Elaine Batchlor Chief Medical Officer at L.A. Care Health Plan. “As America’s largest public health plan, we are committed to ensuring that L.A. County’s traditional and safety net providers and patients in underserved communities are not left behind.”
At the cutting edge of health care delivery, e-consults are designed to increase the efficiency of care for patients. The specialty referral and appointment process for patients - especially in those areas with limited access to specialty care - has traditionally taken up to several months. However, e-consults increase both collaboration regarding a patient’s care and the speed with which a patient’s care is delivered, often reducing the specialty referral process to a few days.
“The exchange of medical information and data is critical to the rapid and effective delivery of quality patient care,” said Darren McLachlan, Director of Finance and Information Technology of SynerMed, Inc. “E-consults create an important synergy between medicine and technology; one that increases access for patients while decreasing the time needed to access care.”
As the original accountable care organization (ACO), SynerMed organizes groups of physicians and holds them responsible for the quality and cost of care for their beneficiaries. E-consults and other health information exchange tools then connect these physicians and promote access and collaboration in patient care.