Note for Ontario Users: In Ontario, Ocean eConsults are currently in a limited release. For more information on eConsult in Ontario as part of the Ontario eServices Program, please review the Overview of eConsults in Ontario article.
Learn how to accept, decline, and import eConsults into your EMR.
1. Receive an email notification and access the eConsult
- When you receive a new eConsult, you will receive an email notification based on your notification configuration.
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- Log in to the Ocean Portal, and use the menu to navigate to the 'eReferrals & eConsults' area.
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Locate the eConsult under the 'Received' tab and within the 'New' status folder. Click on the eConsult to open it and view more details.
Tip: Certain columns can be used to sort your referrals into ascending/descending order. Simply click the column header.
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2. Review and accept or decline the eConsult
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After opening the eConsult, review it's contents to gain a more detailed understanding of the consult and ensure it contains all of the information you require.
Tip: If necessary, you can assign the eConsult to be reviewed by another user on your Ocean site for a secondary review.
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Use the 'Decline' or 'Accept eConsult' button at the bottom of the eConsult to indicate your decision.
If you believe that the patient should be referred to your clinic instead, click 'Accept as eReferral'. Then, follow the steps in this guide.
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PS Suite with Cloud Connect Integration
- When you accept a new eConsult and your PS Suite EMR is integrated using Cloud Connect, Ocean will search for an existing patient in your EMR with the matching healthcard number and date of birth, and automatically import the consult note into the corresponding chart as a new encounter note.
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- If no corresponding chart is found, a new chart will be generated and populated with the consult information.
- If Ocean automatically generated a new patient chart and the name of the referring provider already exists in your PS Suite address book, the 'Referring MD/NP' chart field will also be updated with the referrer's name.
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Note: Ocean matches the referring provider's information with the PS Suite address book using First Name and Last Name.
If more than one provider exists in the PS Suite address book with the same first and last name, Ocean uses the referrer's fax number to match with the correct provider.
If multiple providers have the same first name, last name, and fax number, Ocean will not update 'Referring MD/NP' field.
If multiple providers have the same first name, last name, but no matching fax number is found, Ocean will not update 'Referring MD/NP' field.
In Ocean, the eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Accepted as eConsult' status folder.
PS Suite without Cloud Connect Integration
- If your PS Suite EMR is not integrated using Cloud Connect, you will be provided with an numeric code to import the eConsult into your EMR using the following steps:
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- Manually navigate into the patient's chart in PS Suite. If the patient does not yet exist in the EMR, create a new stub chart.
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- You can then use the 'Import' button on the Ocean Toolbar to import the patient's eConsult using the provided numeric code. The patient's demographic fields will automatically update the chart when the consult is imported, and a new encounter note containing the consult summary will be generated.
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In Ocean, the eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Accepted as eConsult' status folder.
- When you accept a new eConsult, the referral information will be automatically imported as a new Active Task in the patient's chart with the matching healthcard number and date of birth in your Med Access EMR.
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- In Ocean, the eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Accepted as eConsult' status folder.
- If no chart with a matching healthcard number and date of birth is found, Ocean will automatically generate a new chart and import the consult notes into it. The patient's demographic fields will also automatically update in the patient's chart.
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Note: The 'Patient Status' field in new charts generated by Ocean will be set by default to 'Unconfirmed'. Ensure that you update the status to 'Active' (or your preferred status) after accepting the eConsult.
- If Ocean automatically generated a new patient chart and the name of the referring provider already exists in your Med Access address book, the 'Referring Provider' chart field will also be updated with the referrer's name.
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Note: Ocean matches the referring provider's information with the Med Access address book using First Name and Last Name.
If more than one provider exists in the Med Access address book with the same first and last name, Ocean uses the referrer's fax number to match with the correct provider.
If multiple providers have the same first name, last name, and fax number, Ocean will not update 'Referring Provider' field.
If multiple providers have the same first name, last name, but no matching fax number is found, Ocean will not update 'Referring Provider' field.
Ocean-MA Extension: Task Category and Type Adjustments
- If you use the Ocean-MA Extension, it will automatically recognize upon opening the Task that it is related to an Ocean eConsult.
- The extension will automatically adjust the Task 'Category' and 'Type' values to correspond with the Ocean eConsult.
After reviewing the changes and making any other necessary adjustments to the Task, click 'Save'. The Task will be automatically categorized into the 'Active Requests' section of the corresponding 'Consults ' or 'Investigations' area of the patient chart.
- When you accept a new eConsult, the referral note will be automatically imported into the patient's chart in Accuro with the matching healthcard number and date of birth.
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- Depending on your Cloud Connect configuration, the consult note will either appear as an Encounter Note or a Document.
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Note: It is recommended that your Cloud Connect settings are configured to save sent and received eReferrals and eConsults as Documents to ensure that any file attachments are automatically imported into Accuro.
By default, the Document Provider will be 'Unassigned'. However, automatic Document Provider assignment can optionally be enabled in your Cloud Connect settings.
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If no chart with a matching healthcard number and date of birth is found, Ocean will automatically generate a new chart and import the consult notes into it. The patient's demographic fields will also automatically update in the patient's chart.
- If Ocean automatically generated a new patient chart and the name of the referring provider already exists in your Accuro address book, the 'Referring Phys' chart field will also be updated with the referrer's name.
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Note: Ocean matches the referring provider's information with the Accuro address book using First Name and Last Name.
If more than one provider exists in the Accuro address book with the same first and last name, Ocean uses the referrer's fax number to match with the correct provider.
If multiple providers have the same first name, last name, and fax number, Ocean will not update 'Referring Phys' field.
If multiple providers have the same first name, last name, but no matching fax number is found, Ocean will not update 'Referring Phys' field.
In Ocean, the eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Accepted as eConsult' status folder.
When you accept a new eConsult, the consult note will be automatically imported into the patient's chart in OSCAR Pro with the matching healthcard number and date of birth.
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The consult note is imported in PDF format into the 'Documents' area of the chart.
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If no chart with a matching healthcard number and date of birth is found, Ocean will automatically generate a new chart and import the consult notes into it. The patient's demographic fields will also automatically update in the patient's chart.
In Ocean, the eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Accepted as eConsult' status folder.
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If you use a non-integrated EMR, you can download the eConsult after accepting it and manually upload it into your EMR as a PDF.
Tip: You can download a copy of the eConsult record at any time.
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In Ocean, the eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Accepted as eConsult' status folder.
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If declining an eConsult, you will be prompted to enter a reason for the declination, with the option to provide an additional message for the declination email notifications.
A message will also appear to inform you of the stakeholder that the eConsult will be returned to.
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- If the patient consented to email notifications, you can additionally choose whether or not the patient should also receive the declination email notification.
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- The eConsult will be automatically moved to the 'Declined' status folder.