Dr. Daren Anderson on the power of eConsults

ConferMED, the eConsult telehealth affiliate of the Moses/Weitzman Health System, celebrates its tenth anniversary this spring. We talked with Daren Anderson, MD, about ConferMED and why eConsults are transformative for primary care providers and their patients. Dr. Anderson is a healthcare innovator and board certified general internist who has devoted his career to improving primary care for vulnerable, medically underserved patients. He currently serves as president of ConferMED and Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Community Health Center, Inc., the Connecticut-based FQHC that launched ConferMED. Dr. Anderson’s research on eConsults provided the foundation for the development of ConferMED. He obtained his MD from Columbia University and completed his residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital. This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.

Early in your career, why did you choose primary care as your practice area?

I had an epiphany in my junior year in college. I wanted to make a difference in addressing wealth and income disparities, and find a career that would make a difference and help tackle the problems of the world. While reading The Doctor Stories by William Carlos Williams, I was inspired by his work with underserved patients. That was my “Eureka” moment. I decided not only to become a doctor, but to focus on primary care for under-resourced communities. My parents were public school teachers, so medicine wasn’t on my radar, but the next day I signed up for pre-med courses and then I went to medical school.

When you started as a doctor, what was the technology like?

I joined the National Health Service Corps after residency. We had a little hand-held data device where we could enter notes. It was 1998, everything was on paper—no electronic health records (EHRs). We had paper charts. In the chart was a problem list to track patient issues. I had Harrison’s textbook to look things up. I carried a pocket pharmacopeia with the dosing for all the drugs. The hospital had only a rudimentary documentation system, but no smartphones or advanced tech. We adopted EHRs in 2006, so I’ve lived through the entire transition from paper to digital medicine.

When did you first realize access to specialty care was a problem for your patients?

The first day I started practicing at Community Health Center. Coming from Yale-New Haven Hospital, where specialists were readily available, to New Britain, Connecticut, just 30 miles away, where wait times for specialty referrals were nine months or more, was shocking. This hasn’t changed. Some providers here in Connecticut still send patients two hours away for specialty care because no local specialists accept Medicaid. I talk to people across the country and it’s the same story, whether you are based in a rural location two hours from the nearest hospital, or right in the middle of a big city. Frankly, the specialty care system is not set up to care for under-resourced patients.

How does ConferMED work?

The idea behind ConferMED is so simple. When I, as a primary care provider, see a patient who may need a specialist, I can send a secure message with additional clinical information to a specialist, who can look at it and tell me what they think. Within two days, the specialist responds, sending me back a secure message, often with enough guidance so that I can continue treatment in primary care. This is critical when wait times for in-person visits are long, and many patients never make it to their specialist appointments. With ConferMED, specialists in our network guide primary care providers through complex cases virtually, improving access to care while reducing unnecessary referrals. The idea is to embed the process into the continuum of care. It works.

What if the provider has more questions?

After a specialist replies, the eConsult remains open for 14 days for follow-ups. The primary care provider can submit questions back and forth with the specialist. For conditions like diabetes, for example, the provider can adjust treatment based on the specialist’s advice and check back later if needed. It’s a virtual form of co-management in which the specialist is collaborating with you. You are keeping care within primary care while benefiting from specialist expertise. This prevents fragmented communication that can happen with traditional referrals.

Who pays for ConferMED? How does it save money?

The hardest part is figuring out payment. Our research showed repeatedly that eConsults save money. Patients who had eConsults and stayed in primary care had fewer tests and procedures done than those who went into the hospital system. On top of that, patients get answers in two days instead of waiting months. Treatment is implemented quickly, so people get better sooner. Medicaid or managed care organizations often pay for eConsults, but funding varies by state and by medical practice. Some health centers or accountable care organizations (ACOs) cover the cost because they see the long-term financial benefits. No matter what state you are from, at ConferMED we have people who can help your practice figure out the payment landscape.

What is this experience like for specialists?

Many specialists like it because they can contribute to underserved patient care while earning extra income. Some set aside dedicated time for eConsults, which they can do flexibly from home. There’s no hospital rounding or overhead. Most join because they believe in the mission. They know the system often fails people who belong to groups historically excluded from care, and this gives them a way to help.

How is ConferMED leveraging new technologies to enhance its services?

We connect primary care providers with specialist expertise, not just for referrals but for guidance on remote patient monitoring, dermatology imaging, and chronic disease management. With the rise of wearable health devices such as continuous glucose monitoring and the Zio Patch heart monitor, primary care providers need help interpreting data. AI might assist in summarizing information, making it easier for specialists to review cases efficiently. At ConferMED, we want to plug primary care providers into the larger healthcare ecosystem, so we can be that source when they need any kind of case-specific guidance from an expert.

What would you tell a primary care provider considering ConferMED?

It’s incredibly powerful to have a whole network of specialists in your back pocket, virtually looking over your shoulder when you need their guidance. I don’t think you can fully grasp how powerful it is as a tool until you actually start using it. Clinicians sometimes worry that it’s extra work, but it actually reduces workload by providing immediate expert input instead of navigating a complex referral process. This expands what primary care providers can confidently manage and enhances their patient care.

Moses/Weitzman’s vision in launching ConferMED at Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) was groundbreaking. Unlike venture-backed companies focused on profits, we prioritize serving the medically underserved. There really is nobody else out there doing what we do, specifically focusing on health centers and the patients they serve.

Speaking of patients, do you miss clinical practice?

Yes. I stay connected by reading our eConsults on a regular basis. For new clients, I read all of them. Running a business was never my plan, but combining clinical and business skills has been essential to the success of ConferMED. We’ve reached a scale where we’re making a real impact—helping primary care providers deliver better care while improving specialty access nationwide. So far, we’ve done over 185,000 consults and supported 4,200 primary care providers in 33 states. This is where I need to be right now. We are looking forward to our next ten years of staying true to our mission and making a difference.