Richard Popwell

Dr. Popwell is a practicing neurologist, an accomplished physician executive, and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology.

Dr. Popwell obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and Doctor of Medicine from Tulane University. He completed his neurology residency in the United States Air Force and has actively practiced neurology for 24 years. Dr. Popwell is also an accomplished and respected physician leader and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Washington (WWAMI program).

Informal consultations between healthcare professionals, casually referred to as “curbside” consults, are an age-old practice of medicine that has historically been considered a courtesy. The complex challenges confronting healthcare have created a renewed interest in curbside consults, especially when considering the importance of value-based care. Over the last twenty years, e-consults, which are essentially asynchronous electronic curbside consults, have been proven to:

• Improve access to specialty expertise
• Facilitate cross-learning and collegiality between healthcare professionals
• Expand referral networks
• Capture unrecognized revenue
• Reduce the overall cost of care
• Minimize healthcare disparities

The American Medical Association first defined curbsides as interprofessional consultations (IPCs) in the 2014 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) codes. In 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved reimbursement for IPCs. Subsequently, private insurance payors have followed suit. However, most health care professionals, hospitals, and health systems still have not adopted them into their care delivery models. Furthermore, current healthcare information systems are fragmented, inefficient, overly complex, and reliant on outdated provider-to-provider communication technologies.

DocSide is a contemporary curbside experience delivered through an innovative and universally accessible, mobile and web-based solution that streamlines communication, documentation, and charge capture. DocSide empowers healthcare professionals and organizations to realize the full value of curbsides by strengthening and expanding existing networks of referring and consulting providers through the creation of virtual clinical ecosystems.