@article {MoreeaA96, author = {S Moreea and PB Southern and J Connolly and VJ Appleby}, title = {PTU-132 Hepatology E-consultation: The Way Forward? A Review Of Our Initial Experience And Cost Analysis}, volume = {63}, number = {Suppl 1}, pages = {A96--A97}, year = {2014}, doi = {10.1136/gutjnl-2014-307263.206}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group}, abstract = {Introduction Outpatient visits to secondary care are costly to Primary Care (PC), time consuming for patients and not always appropriate. Our Trust having been a pioneer in nephrology e-Consultation (eC), we started a hepatology eC service in March 2012. This allows patients{\textquoteright} records to be shared between PC and secondary care (SC) without the need for a detailed referral letter. Our aims were to analyse our initial experience and perform a cost analysis of hepatology eC. Methods Retrospective analysis of eC between Mar 12- Oct 13 using SystmOne. Tariffs used for cost analysis: new patient (NP) referral {\textsterling}181, follow up (FU) {\textsterling}103, eC {\textsterling}24. Results In 18 months there were 81 eC (31M/50F mean age 52/56 y), each taking 10{\textendash}15 min to complete. The median response time was 2 days (43\% within 1 day). Referral reasons: isolated raised bilirubin/ALT/ALP/GGT: 44/81 (54\%), mixed raised LFT{\textquoteright}s: 16/81 (20\%), abnormal radiology 10\%, hyperferritinaemia 9\%, HBV/HCV 4\%, general advice 2\%. There was one inappropriate referral. In 18 cases, SC referral was recommended (22\%), with 10/18 being referred and seen. The mean number of FU appointments was 3. Total cost to PC was {\textsterling}8,114: eC {\textsterling}1,944 and {\textsterling}6,170 for subsequent referrals. A minimum cost saving of {\textsterling}14,890 was made (81 NP ({\textsterling}14,661) and assuming one FU for each ({\textsterling}8,343)). Conclusion eC is a rapid, cost-effective method of providing hepatology advice. Hidden costs including consultant time, clinic costs etc are difficult to quantify. We would, however, recommend eC as the way forward with a more appropriate tariff. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.}, issn = {0017-5749}, URL = {https://gut.bmj.com/content/63/Suppl_1/A96.3}, eprint = {https://gut.bmj.com/content/63/Suppl_1/A96.3.full.pdf}, journal = {Gut} }