Provider-to-Provider Line Updates and Reminders

Significant changes were made to the Provider-to-Provider line at the beginning of January, impacting the way our community providers access Seattle Children’s specialists for consultation and clinical questions. We’d like to thank our community providers for their willingness to utilize new tools and for their patience with any technical challenges during these changes.

Recap of January’s Changes

A reminder of the changes that went into effect January 6:

• The phone tree has been updated to differentiate between in state and out-of-state providers.
• The phone tree has been updated to provide an option to be transferred to Clinical Intake for referral questions.
• Community providers within the state of Washington are no longer able to utilize the line to have non-urgent clinical questions answered as eConsults are available and the most appropriate forum for receiving guidance with non-urgent issues.

Important Updates and Reminders

Since the changes went into effect we have been triaging, tracking, and trending both internal and external issues and want to provide some additional information that should be helpful:

Line usage

• Now that non-urgent clinical questions are not an option in most cases, any in-state call is processed as urgent, resulting in providers being pulled away from the bedside to ensure we can remain responsive to these urgent situations. There have been instances of non-urgent questions called in as urgent and we appreciate your assistance in ensuring questions are truly urgent so that patient care is not negatively impacted in our clinics and hospital.
• Some providers have utilized the urgent clinical question option because they have not yet established an EpicCare Link account, and can’t access eConsults, which is not an appropriate use of the line.
• Specialties that have not gone live with eConsults have a process established for responding to non-urgent clinical questions from community providers and should be contacted directly. Their phone number can be found on their individual refer a patient page.

EpicCare Link (ECL) and eConsults

• We have seen an increase in eConsult utilization and appreciate our community’s willingness to utilize this option! 98% of eConsults have been responded to within a 3-day period, ensuring ordering providers get the guidance they need in a timely manner.
• eConsults are the best option to have non-urgent clinical questions answered and can be placed via ECL. There are now 100 different eConsult orders available.
• ECL can be utilized to send a In Basket message directly to your patient’s specialist if you have a co-management question regarding an existing problem we have seen the patient for.
• ECL can be used regardless of what EMR your clinic uses.
• ECL is available to any clinic and provider and is a great tool for viewing your patients’ Seattle Children’s records, placing referrals, sending In Basket messages regarding patient co-management, and submitting eConsults.
• To establish ECL access, each clinic designates an administrator that requests a new site, and once granted, the site administrator can add and remove individual users for the clinic. It is typically a quick and easy process to establish access.
• If you forget your password, or can’t log in, call 206-987-4444, option 2 or email [email protected].

Helpful Resources

• This guide can help providers understand what Seattle Children’s resource is most appropriate when they have questions or need consultation services.
• This document lists the 100 different eConsult orders available to providers within the state of Washington.
• Existing users, log in to EpicCare Link. (SCCN users and Seattle Children’s badge holders, can log in via Okta.)
• Request a new site or add users to an existing site.

Find additional information and helpful guides on EpicCare Link and eConsults.