Case Study: North County Health Services Expands Specialty Care Access with AristaMD

How FQHC North County Health Services (NCHS) solved significant issues in access to specialty care for their safety net patient population through the AristaMD Smart Care Platform

North County Health Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving more than 65,000 mostly Medicaid, Medicare, uninsured, and low-income patients in North San Diego County, struggled to connect patients with specialty care. With 2,500 to 3,000 specialty referrals each month and only about 35% of patients ultimately getting specialty care, the organization faced long wait times, limited specialist availability, and barriers like transportation and childcare.

To address this, North County Health Services implemented AristaMD’s Smart Care Platform, using asynchronous eConsults to connect primary care providers with a national panel of board-certified specialists. After a pilot at three clinics, the health system expanded to 13 clinics within four months. AristaMD’s solution produced strong results, including 65% of eConsults resolving without an in-person specialist visit, 55% delivering specialty-guided care in primary care, and 91% of providers saying the program significantly influenced care plans, with nearly two-thirds of patients getting answers within four hours.

North County Health Services