Improving access to specialized care for patients with frailty through eConsult

Over 1.5 million Canadians are currently living with frailty, a number set to reach 2 million by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how vulnerable these patients are, and how our disease-based healthcare system struggles to address their often-complex needs with timely, effective specialized medical care. Fortunately, there is a proven simple solution to improve access to specialized care that could radically change the trajectory of care for people living with frailty. eConsult is a secure online application that allows primary care providers to contact specialists with questions about their patients' care and receive a quick reply-often in as little as two days. First developed by our team in Ottawa, Ontario in 2009, eConsult has enabled rapid access to specialist advice for nearly 100,000 people across Canada. In this project, we aim to harness the power of eConsult to improve access to frailty care services in three provinces: Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Working alongside new and existing partners, we will first assess the needs and gaps in care for patients with frailty. Second, we will create frailty eConsult services with linkage to specialists, allied health professionals and community services targeting the needs of patients with frailty, and establish a national database to support analysis and create tools to assist health care providers identify and manage frailty. Third, we will measure eConsult's impact on patient care, and create a series of communication tools. Finally, we will integrate our findings across the study to get a full picture of the service's impact, and release our learning tools for use by others looking to launch frailty-focused eConsult services. Our team includes experts in eConsult and frailty care, as well as patient partners who will review the entire process and have a say in how the project is run. Together, we will work to ensure that all patients have quick access to high quality frailty care.