eConsult a Pediatric Specialist

What is an eConsult?

An eConsult is a secure, online, non-urgent asynchronous consultation that allows a primary care provider to submit patient information and clinical questions to a pediatric specialist at Manning Family Children’s without first having to refer the patient for a specialty visit.

Since the eConsult takes place within Epic, communication between providers is secure and documented in the patient's chart. Both the referring provider and the specialist may be able to bill for their contributions, including preparing the eConsult and providing the specialist recommendation.

eConsult is not intended to be used by the patient, the patient’s legal guardian, or family members. If you are a parent/guardian or family member and would like your child's condition reviewed by a pediatric specialist, please discuss this with your child's primary care provider.

Why eConsult?

Pediatric specialists at Manning Family Children's offer the eConsult program to:

Increase access to care and educational materials
Reduce wait times for specialty appointments
Reduce unnecessary referrals and costs by resolving cases that don't require in-person visits
Address the shortage of pediatric specialty health care professionals outside of the New Orleans area
Reduce barriers to care caused by distance and limitation on transportation
Reduce the likelihood that a patient would otherwise delay or forego care
Increase opportunity for physicians to collaborate with pediatric specialists that they may not otherwise have access to
Help control health care costs while enabling health care professionals to provide quality, up-do-date services to their patients

Who can submit an eConsult?

eConsults are available for PCP’s and other clinicians seeking a specialist consult. For internal LCMC providers, simply search in Epic for your desired service line. For our external partners, a Health Link account is required. To sign up or log in, visit the Health Link web page here.

Providers can expect an answer in up to five business days. All patient information, documentation, and correspondences are securely stored and transmitted within our EMR and can be referenced at any time

Which departments offer eConsults?

Currently eConsults are being offered for the following services:

eConsult to Pediatric Behavioral Health (Autism Center)
eConsult to Pediatric Dermatology
eConsult to Pediatric Neurosurgery
eConsult to Pediatric NICU Graduate Clinic (Infant Development & Follow-Up Clinic)
cConsult to Pediatric Psychiatry
eConsult to Pediatric Psychology
eConsult to Pediatric Rheumatology

The eConsult process:

For Manning Family Children's providers or external providers using LCMC Health Link (Epic Care Link) -

Step 1: The primary care provider or referring specialist will suggest an eConsult to the patient, explaining the process and obtaining verbal consent from the patient.

Step 2: Once patient consents, PCP will use the Smartphrase ECONSULTREQUEST [156159] and document the questions in the patient’s note. At this point the PCP can also add code 99452 to the encounter if all billing criteria are met.

Step 3: Once the note is ready to be routed to the specialist, PCP will send the eConsult order. Search for E-Consult and choose the correct specialty.

Step 4: Once the order is signed, the order and note will be routed to the specialist’s pool.

Step 5: Once the eConsult has been addressed by the specialist, the specialist’s recommendation will be routed back to the PCP and show up in the PCP’s In-Basket.

Tip Sheet for Non-LCMC Health Providers for Submitting an eConsult

If you have further questions, please call the Dedicated Provider Referral Department at 504.8 94.6778 or email CHNOconcierge@lcmchealth.org.