Lack of availability for specialist appointments is a growing problem that’s hard to tackle by just adding video calls or improving referral systems, but AristaMD believes that a combination of both solutions will move the needle in the right direction.
eConsult company AristaMD announced the acquisition of referral management startup Preferral to help address the 20% of referrals that it reports are misdirected and the 50% of referrals that “are often unfulfilled.”
- AristaMD’s eConsult platform allows primary care physicians to submit a case to a contracted team of over 300 specialists, who then have 24 hours to review it. The patient’s clinical history, lab results, and images are provided to allow the specialist to return a treatment pathway during the one-day window.
- The model is able to operate due to the fact that peer-to-peer asynchronous consultation is an informational consult, meaning that the specialist does not have to be licensed in the patient’s state. AristaMD works with health plans that offer eConsults as benefits, as well as health systems that use the platform to facilitate collaboration.
- Preferral’s solution enables PCPs to easily send a referral to a specialist and confirm receipt with both the originating practice and the patient, eliminating avoidable complications that result from busy clinics using fax machines and follow-up calls to coordinate referrals.
- Combining AristaMD’s eConsults with the Preferral platform will create a comprehensive physician-to-specialist referral solution, complete with reviews for prior authorization, scheduling, and interim care plan support.
The Takeaway
The acquisition of Preferral greatly improves the referral management component of AristaMD’s eConsults service, reshaping it as a comprehensive platform with the ability to improve access to specialists while expediting treatments.
