The Massachusetts General Hospital Virtual Consults Program provides patients and consulting providers virtual options for access to the expertise of Mass General clinicians.  

About Virtual Consults

two providers speaking to another clinician virtuallyThe Virtual Consults Program is transforming physician-to-physician consults with a focus on delivering personalized, cost-effective, and streamlined communication solutions. This groundbreaking initiative not only harnesses the expertise and ingenuity of our providers but also facilitates seamless connections between patients and healthcare professionals, accommodating their individual requirements in terms of timing and location. Moreover, it enables patients to stay within their communities even during emergency hospitalizations, ensuring continuity of care and support.

Affiliated and network physicians leverage user-friendly tools to communicate, collaborate, and share information remotely. These intuitive tools empower healthcare professionals to engage with patients and each other in a manner that prioritizes convenience and aligns with the patient's specific medical requirements. The Virtual Consults Program represents a forward-thinking initiative, optimizing the delivery of healthcare services by embracing technology and enhancing the overall patient experience.

Consult Services

Virtual consult programs currently offered:

TeleStroke/Emergency TeleNeurology

Physician-to-physician consultations and clinical coverage are available on a 24/7/365 basis for neurological emergencies, including acute stroke (with a focus on thrombolytic and endovascular therapy evaluations), hemorrhagic strokes, aneurysm evaluations, coma, spinal cord injury, status epilepticus, and non-traumatic acute weakness. Adhering to the academic medical center model, where medical education is integrated into daily care delivery, vascular and neurocritical care clinical fellows collaborate with board-certified vascular neurologists and neurointensivists to ensure rapid access for emergency neurologic conditions within five minutes.

Benefits of the Program

  • Enables immediate access to the premier stroke expertise available at Mass General Acute Stroke and Neurointensive Care Services.
  • Triples retention rate of stroke or other complex neurological patients at local hospital.
  • Key contributor to notably improved door-to-needle times.
  • Free online, asynchronous Continuing Medical Education for medical and nursing education through the Harvard Medical School.
  • Opportunities for collaborative outcomes research at your facility to explore the impact of innovative care delivery models.
  • Generates detailed documentation of finalized consults with the ability to push automatically to hospital electronic heath records.

Our Physicians

SubAcute TeleStroke

Designed to address symptoms of stroke occurring outside the parameters of acute stroke, the SubAcute TeleStroke program links physicians and patients with specialized vascular neurologists at Massachusetts General Hospital. The service empowers non-specialists to manage the post-acute phase of stroke effectively, facilitating adjustment and restoration of brain function, leading to improved patient outcomes and treatment of more stroke patients in community hospitals.

Our Physicians

Routine & Urgent TeleNeurology

The Mass General Hospital TeleNeurology Program provides world-class, neurological care to hospitals and clinics remotely. Distinct from Acute and SubAcute TeleStroke, these services provide non-emergency access to a wide variety of neurologic expertise in different care settings. The program fosters a collaborative approach to patient care and continuous innovation leading to measurable improvements in efficiency and quality neurological care.

Benefits of the Mass General Program

  • Make access to premier neurological expertise possible.
  • Decreases average patient length of stay without increasing transfers.
  • Contributes specialized focus within ambulatory settings for local neurologists.
  • Fills coverage gaps local neurologist are unavailable.
  • Delivers accredited continuing education programs of high quality through Harvard Medical School.
  • Provides research opportunities aimed at discovering innovative healthcare delivery models.
  • Ensure detailed documentation that can be pushed to Electronic Health Records.

Our Physicians

Dermatology E-Consults

Ensuring timely medical consultations for the treatment and triage of dermatological cases, the Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology E-Consult program supports local physician in managing many dermatology conditions and determining those requiring specialist attention promptly. The program is crafted to enhance current dermatology services facing capacity constraints, while also addressing healthcare gaps in areas where access to care is restricted or nonexistent.

Benefits of Mass General’s Dermatology E-Consults Program

  • Prompt consultative support for physicians seeking dermatological care for their patients.
  • Enhanced triage of dermatological cases leads to improved accuracy in referrals to dermatologists.
  • Reduced burden on existing dermatologists by empowering PCPs to treat appropriate cases
  • Expanded access to dermatology specialty services in care settings where such services are currently limited or unavailable.

Our Physicians

TeleNewborn Medicine

Providing consultative support to physicians and pediatric providers across all aspects of newborn medical care, Massachusetts General Hospital’s TeleNewborn Medicine Program enables virtual, on-demand access to Mass General neonatologists. Hospitalists and labor and delivery professionals benefit from immediate medical consultations that aid in stabilizing neonates, assessing the required level of care, and facilitating transport arrangements if necessary. TeleNewborn Medicine can be enhanced with provisional clinical leadership and educational simulation services to strengthen clinical programs, practice, and quality improvement objectives pertaining to newborn care.

Benefits of MGH’s TeleNewborn Program

  • Immediate consultative support for physicians in all aspects of neonatal care.
  • Improved communication and safer transportation for neonatal patients requiring transfer.
  • Retaining neonatal patients who can receive appropriate ongoing care within a community setting.
  • Access to specialized clinical leadership support in achieving practice and quality goals and departmental optimization.

Our Physicians