eConsult Trends for 2025: Evolving Primary Care

Primary care is the cornerstone of the US health system; and yet today, faces pressures on many fronts; including rising operational costs, increasing patient complexity, limited access to specialty care, and workforce shortages. Primary care seeks out ways to enhance the patient experience and deliver equitable quality care, despite these challenges. eConsult technology offers solutions to advance how PCPs deliver efficient and effective care.  Looking forward, these are the top eConsult trends that are set to impact primary care in 2025:

1. Increasing eConsult Utilization to Lower Costs

With soaring specialty care costs, eConsults offer a cost-effective solution for primary care organizations. By facilitating remote consultations between PCPs and specialists, eConsults can reduce the need for in-person referrals by up to 70% — delivering a 20% reduction in costs related to specialty care. eConsults also act as a quality assurance check to ensure the right treatment plan is in place, and avoids unnecessary services, such as referrals, tests or labs. 

2. Prioritization of EHR Integration

Seamless integration of eConsult platforms with Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is a game-changer for primary care clinicians. Recent studies have explored the time burden EHRs present to PCPs and their teams. However, when workflows are streamlined, PCPs’ interactions with their EHRs can become faster, more effective, and contribute to more “pajama time.” For instance, integrating the eConsult workflow with EHRs allows PCPs to initiate consultations within the patient record. All of this means more can get done in a day, without creating more administrative hassle for the clinical team or sacrificing time with patients. Better connectivity makes it easier to create and submit eConsults and begin to put care plans into action.  

3. Team-Based Workflows

The incorporation of team-based workflows is another key trend. The AAFP touts team-based models of care delivery as an important driver of clinician satisfaction, along with improved patient experience and safety. By utilizing scribes, RNs and care coordinators to support eConsult submission and review, PCPs can save valuable time and focus on direct patient care. Additionally, team-based collaboration enhances the comprehensiveness of care, particularly for behavioral health consultations.

4. Standardized, Programmatic eConsult Workflows

Implementing standardized, programmatic workflows ensures that high-risk and high-cost patient populations are routed through eConsult submission before specialty referrals. This modern approach streamlines the referral process, reduces wait times, and ensures that patients receive comprehensive care in the primary care setting. Proven to deliver improved quality of care and outcomes for diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic conditions, providers can tailor a program to focus eConsult use with specific cohorts of patients. A recent example features eConsults for diabetes management.

5. Growing Patient Awareness

Patient awareness and acceptance of telehealth and virtual care has been steadily rising since the COVID-19 pandemic. Now with more PCPs leveraging eConsults, patients continue to grow familiar with this care model. This will lead to more patients requesting eConsults as a way to access specialist input early in their care journey or to avoid a costly in-person visit. This trend highlights the growing demand for convenient and accessible healthcare solutions.

The Value of eConsults for Primary Care

eConsults offer numerous benefits to primary care organizations and providers, including:

• Improved access to specialty care
• Reduced healthcare costs
• Enhanced care coordination
• Increased patient satisfaction

By embracing these eConsult trends, primary care providers can position themselves at the forefront of healthcare innovation and deliver patient-centric care.