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Bello AK, Zaidi D, Braam B, et al. Electronic Advice Request System for Nephrology in Alberta: Pilot Results and Implementation. Can J Kidney Health Dis. 2019;6:2054358119879778doi: 10.1177/2054358119879778.
Bello, A. K., Zaidi, D., Braam, B., Chou, S., Courtney, M., Deved, V., Glassford, J., Jindal, K., Klarenbach, S., Osman, M., Scott-Douglas, N., Shurraw, S., Thompson, S., Manns, B., Hemmelgarn, B., & Tonelli, M. (2019). Electronic Advice Request System for Nephrology in Alberta: Pilot Results and Implementation. Canadian journal of kidney health and disease, 62054358119879778. https://doi.org/10.1177/2054358119879778
Bello, Aminu K, et al. "Electronic Advice Request System for Nephrology in Alberta: Pilot Results and Implementation." Canadian journal of kidney health and disease vol. 6 (2019): 2054358119879778. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2054358119879778
Bello AK, Zaidi D, Braam B, Chou S, Courtney M, Deved V, Glassford J, Jindal K, Klarenbach S, Osman M, Scott-Douglas N, Shurraw S, Thompson S, Manns B, Hemmelgarn B, Tonelli M. Electronic Advice Request System for Nephrology in Alberta: Pilot Results and Implementation. Can J Kidney Health Dis. 2019 Oct 04;6:2054358119879778. doi: 10.1177/2054358119879778. eCollection 2019. PMID: 31632683; PMCID: PMC6778992.
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Can J Kidney Health Dis. 2019 Oct 04;6:2054358119879778. doi: 10.1177/2054358119879778. eCollection 2019.

Electronic Advice Request System for Nephrology in Alberta: Pilot Results and Implementation.

Canadian journal of kidney health and disease

Aminu K Bello, Deenaz Zaidi, Branko Braam, Sophia Chou, Mark Courtney, Vinay Deved, Jodi Glassford, Kailash Jindal, Scott Klarenbach, Mohammed Osman, Nairne Scott-Douglas, Sabin Shurraw, Stephanie Thompson, Braden Manns, Brenda Hemmelgarn, Marcello Tonelli

Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
  2. Division of Nephrology, University of Calgary, AB, Canada.
  3. Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.

PMID: 31632683 PMCID: PMC6778992 DOI: 10.1177/2054358119879778

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Residents of rural areas of Alberta face significant barriers regarding access to specialist care, resulting in delays in provision of optimal care. Electronic referral and consultation systems are promising tools for facilitating timely access to specialist care, especially for people living in rural locations.

OBJECTIVE: To report our initial experience with the launch of an electronic advice request system for ambulatory kidney care in Alberta, Canada.

METHODS: We analyzed electronic advice requests for nephrology services in Alberta after the system's pilot launch, from October 2016 to December 2017. Data for province-wide advice request utility by primary care providers (PCPs) were extracted from Alberta Netcare for analysis.

RESULTS: The total number of electronic advice requests directed to nephrology was 118 (mean number of requests: 2 per week). Only 31 (26.3%) of the cases required a face-to-face clinic visit with a nephrologist. Most (87; 73.7%) cases were managed by PCPs with ongoing nephrologist support via the advice request tool. Typical nephrologist response time was 5.7 ± 0.6 (mean ± SEM) days.

CONCLUSION: These preliminary data suggest that the electronic advice request program has potential to enhance timely access to specialist kidney care and minimize unnecessary nephrologist visits while reducing response time. Broad implementation of this system may have a substantial positive impact on health outcomes and improve cost-effectiveness for nephrology care in the long term, particularly in rural communities of Alberta.

© The Author(s) 2019.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease (CKD); eReferral advice request; electronic advice (eAdvice); electronic referral; primary care providers

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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