Wait Times, E-Referrals and Putting Service in Front of Health Tech, with Dr. Ilan Shahin, Co-Founder of ConsultLoop

Trends in Med Tech

In this episode we spoke with Dr. Ilan Shahin, a practicing physician-entrepreneur who has co-founded ConsultLoop, a health service navigation software that helps providers better track and manage patient referrals. One of the care problems that ConsultLoop is addressing is the lack of standardization in the traditional, paper or fax-based referral process that often results in patients falling through the cracks (still very much an issue day). A significant chunk of referrals are lost, and those missed appointments, in some cases, lead to inadvertent harm. The booking process is also very tedious for patients and providers alike. ConsultLoop address inefficiencies in the referral process, but also aims to provider better access and better service to patients and providers. Since its inception in 2016 the company has built a directory of over 5000 specialists and services primarily across the greater Toronto area, and has facilitated well over 25,000 referrals. The software works alongside existing electronic medical record platforms, and was designed with easy functionality in mind so that it doesn’t disrupt clinical workflows. The company is also expanding the platform to offer more integrated features for patients to navigate healthcare services they need, and to engage with the service when they have questions. We also spoke about the broader implications of wait times on the healthcare system, current models of healthcare delivery, and the importance of integrating high-quality services into new healthcare technologies so they can be adopted more readily. Ilan was a pleasure to speak with as he offered his personal insights as a practicing family and emergency doctor. I look forward to seeing the company grow to provide greater access to more patients across Canada.

If you would like to learn more about ConsultLoop and its healthcare solutions please visit www.consultloop.com or follow them on Twitter at @ConsultLoop . You can also reach Ilan on Twitter @IlanShahin or by email at [e-mail] . They’ve recently published an interesting report on wait times using data from their platform, “The ConsultLoop Wait Time Report: Data Shines its Light” (November 2018).