Researchers at American College of Physicians Report New Data on Managed Care (Preconsultation Exchange in the United States: Use, Awareness, and…

Researchers at American College of Physicians Report New Data on Managed Care (Preconsultation Exchange in the United States: Use, Awareness, and Attitudes)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Data detailed on Managed Care have been presented. According to news reporting out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by VerticalNews editors, research stated, "Demand for specialty care exceeds supply in many healthcare systems in the United States. Preconsultation exchange has the potential to increase access to specialty care, and increase its timeliness and efficiency, by triaging need and urgency and streamlining the previsit workup."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the American College of Physicians, "We sought to characterize attitudes toward, use of, and concerns regarding preconsultation exchange among US internists. Prospective cross-sectional survey. We administered a Web-based survey to a large national panel of US internists maintained by the American College of Physicians. Response rate was 55% (N = 451) with minimal differences between responders and nonresponders. Of responders, only 13% were initially familiar with the term 'preconsultation exchange,' but once defined, 28% were classified as frequent users, 40% as occasional users, and 32% as rare/never users. Internists used preconsultation exchange to: guide the prespecialty visit workup (78%), answer clinical questions without a patient visit to the specialist (71%), triage referral urgency (67%), and transfer referrals to a more appropriate specialty (47%). Responders supported multiple benefits of preconsultation exchange, but also reported concerns regarding reimbursement, liability, physicians taking personal responsibility for patient care, and inadequate exchange of clinical information. Compared with primary care physicians, specialists recognized more benefits of preconsultation exchange, but also expressed more concerns. The majority of responders reported increased willingness to use preconsultation exchange if specific remedies were applied. Most US internists participate in preconsultation exchange and agree with its potential benefits. However, important concerns and barriers exist."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Methods to reduce barriers to preconsultation exchange should be identified."

For more information on this research see: Preconsultation Exchange in the United States: Use, Awareness, and Attitudes. American Journal of Managed Care, 2014;20(12):E556-E564,55-65. American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J.L. Sewell, Amer Coll Physicians, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Additional authors for this research include K.S. Telischak, L.W. Day, N. Kirschner and A. Weissman.