Demand for ambulatory specialty services has grown at rates that have overwhelmed Academic Hospital and Health Systems' (AHS) capacity, resulting in impaired access and long wait times for patients. This drives down patient and provider satisfaction, and leads to decreased quality of care.
Based on a model initially developed and piloted at the University of California, San Francisco, the AAMC launched Project CORE: Coordinating Optimal Referral Experiences in 2014 to help AHS improve the referral experience for both clinicians and patients. Through Project CORE, the AAMC has partnered with more than 50 adult and pediatric hospitals and health systems to successfully implement eConsults and enhanced referrals, tools that can be built into the electronic health record. Through this innovative model, CORE health systems are improving efficiency and effectiveness at the interface between primary care and specialty care, thereby improving quality of care and access and promoting patient-centered care.Â
View our CORE model overview (PDF) and resource on the benefits and services of participation (PDF) in the CORE program.Â
CORE Participants
Interested in joining? Email us.
Learn more by watching our introductory video
The CORE community is achieving positive results and continues to grow. To date, Project CORE participants:
- Implemented eConsults and enhanced referrals in nearly all medical and surgical specialties, as well as in pediatric specialties and a growing number of ancillary specialties
- Completed an estimated 170,000+ eConsults across the CORE Network and more than 2,000 estimated additional eConsults being placed every month
- Achieved improvements in timely access to specialty input and decreased specialty utilization and costs
- Achieved high levels of patient, primary care provider, and specialist satisfaction with eConsults
- Achieved high rates of primary care provider use of the model, with more than 80% of primary care providers using eConsults on an ongoing basis at most sites where the model is mature
- Furthered scaled the model and focused on sustainability, including engaging with payers and extending to external primary care providers and systems
CORE Program Spotlights
We’re proud of the results achieved by academic medical centers (AMCs) within the CORE community. Several AMCs have agreed to share their story and you can find more in the news.
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Dartmouth-Hitchcock: Better Communication at the Interface of Primary & Specialty Care (PDF)
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Physician Leadership at the University of California, San Diego (PDF)
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Expanding Scope of Practice Through Innovation at the University of Colorado (PDF)
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University of Washington: Addressing Access through eConsults (PDF)
CORE in the News
- UVM eConsult Program Helps Eliminate Wait Times for Patients
- eConsults for pediatrics:Â Improving Communication Between Primary Care Providers and Specialists
- eConsults Reduce Need for Specialty Referral
- Project CORE at ECU Physicians & Vidant Health
- eConsults at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
- CORE Set to Improve Patient Accessibility (University of Michigan)
- 5 ways eConsults benefit you and your patients
- University of Colorado recognized by CU Medical School Dean for institutional award for eConsult program
Recent Research and Publications from the CORE Network
- Outpatient Electronic Consultations in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (Colorado, Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 2022 October)
- Trends in Utilization of Electronic Consultation Associated with Patient Payer and Language Among US Academic Medical Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic (AAMC CORE Group, JAMA Network, 2022 May)
- Primary Care Psychiatry eConsults at a Rural Academic Medical Center: Descriptive Analysis (Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2021 September)
- Experiences in Electronic Consultation (eConsult) Service in Gynecology from a Quaternary Academic Medical Center (UCSF, Journal of Medical Systems, 2021 April)
- Building eConsult (Electronic Consults) Capability at an Academic Medical Center to Improve Efficiencies in Delivering Specialty Care (Colorado, Journal of Primary Care and Community Health, 2021 January-December)
- Comparing Patients’ Experiences with Electronic and Traditional Consultation: Results from a Multisite Survey (UCSF, AAMC, Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2020 April)
- Neurology eConsults at Penn State Health: What, Why, and How? (Penn State, Telehealth and Medicine Today, 2020 January)
- Electronic Consultations to Hepatologists Reduce Wait Time for Visits, Improve Communication, and Result in Cost Savings (UVA, Hepatology Communications, 2019 September)
- Implementing an Opt-in eConsult Program at Seven Academic Medical Centers: a Qualitative Analysis of Primary Care Provider Experiences (Washington, UVA, UCSF, Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2019 August)
CORE Participants
Adult Programs
- Carilion Clinic
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock
- East Carolina University Physicians
- Indiana University Health
- Integra
- Jefferson Health
- LifeSpan
- M Health Fairview
- MaineHealth
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- MedStar Health
- MetroHealth System
- Nebraska Medicine
- Ochsner Health
- Ohio State UniversityÂ
- Optum Long Island/NYC
- Oregon Health & Science University
- Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital
- Penn State Health
- Riverside Health System
- University of South Florida Tampa General Physicians
- Stanford Healthcare
- University of California, San Diego Medical Center
- University of Colorado Health
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
- University of Michigan
- University of Rochester
- University of Utah Health
- University of Vermont
- University of Virginia Medical Center
- University of Washington Medicine
- University of Wisconsin (UW) HealthÂ
- Vidant Health
- Wake Forest Baptist Health
- Yale University - Yale Medicine
Pediatric Programs
- Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical CenterÂ
- Brenner Children’s Hospital at Wake Forest Baptist Health
- Children’s Hospital Colorado
- Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-HitchcockÂ
- Children’s Wisconsin
- C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of MichiganÂ
- Fairview Health Services
- Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester
- OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital
- Seattle Children's Hospital
- Stanford Medicine Children's Health
- University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco
- University Pediatric Clinic at the University of Utah
- UVA Children’sÂ
- UW Health American Family Children’s HospitalÂ
- Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital