A new internet referral system designed at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin has the potential to cut unnecessary referrals by family doctors.
The referrals to out-patient clinics, emergency departments and other areas could be cut by almost 20%, according to a new study.
The Neurolink system, designed by consultant neurologist Professor Niall Tubridy, lets a GP put questions to a consultant about a patient through an electronic referral form.
The form takes around three minutes to complete by the GP.
The consultant can then log on to the system, view the referral and send back a reply, suggesting advice on treatment or referral to the hospital for further investigation.
The average response time by the consultant is just over 19 hours.
The results of the Neurolink project, published in the latest Irish Medical Journal, shows that over 600 neurology patients (20%) a year did not need to go to hospital for specialist checks.
This freed up those outpatient places for over 600 other patients.
The most common GP queries were for suspected epilepsy, migraine and multiple sclerosis.
The study said the system could be rolled out around the country across many specialities and could reduce pressure on an already overburdened health system.
Neurolink was set up in 2006 and has been especially useful in this specialist area where Ireland has the lowest number of consultant neurologists per capita in Europe.
Professor Tubridy said a natural concern is of patient safety and the possibility of missing a serious condition, but GPs have good advice on this when using the system.
The system avoids unnecessary travel time, expense and anxiety for patients and treatments can be started earlier by family doctors.
