• Clare Liddy, Catherine Smyth, Patricia A Poulin, Justin Joschko, Melanie Rebelo, and Erin Keely.
• *C.T. Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario Departments of Family Medicine cliddy@bruyere.org.
• Pain Med. 2016 Jun 1; 17 (6): 1049-1057.

ObjectiveTo describe the impact of the Champlain BASE (Building Access to Specialists through eConsultation) eConsult service on access to specialist care for patients with chronic pain.DesignA cross-sectional descriptive study SETTING: The Champlain Local Health Integration Network, comprising Ottawa, Canada, and the surrounding region.SubjectsAll eConsult cases submitted to chronic pain specialists by primary care providers between April 15, 2011 and June 30, 2015.MethodsUsage data and provider responses to a mandatory closeout survey were analyzed to determine response times, case outcomes, and provider satisfaction.ResultsNinety-three primary care providers submitted 199 eConsults to four chronic pain specialists during the study period. Submitted cases had median response times of 1.9 days. Thirty-six percent of cases resulted in an unnecessary referral being avoided, and over 90% of cases were rated by primary care providers as being of high or very high value for their patients and themselves.ConclusionThe eConsult service improved access to specialist care for patients with chronic diseases. By facilitating prompt communication between primary care providers and specialists, eConsult can help mitigate the negative effects of long wait times experienced by patients with chronic pain.© 2016 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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