Antibiotic Prescribing Practices: Is There a Difference Between Patients Seen by Telemedicine Versus Those Seen In-Person?

Background: Direct-to-consumer telemedicine is becoming part of mainstream medicine, but questions exist regarding the quality of care provided. We assessed antibiotic stewardship, one measure of quality, by comparing antibiotic prescription rates for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) between patients seen by telemedicine and patients seen in-person in two urban emergency departments (EDs). Methods: In two urban EDs where low-acuity patients in the ED have the option of being seen by telemedicine rather than in-person, we analyzed telemedicine and in-person visits of patients >= 18 years who received ARI diagnoses between July 2016 and September 2017. The identified ARI telemedicine visits were matched to in-person visits by diagnosis, treatment hospital, and Emergency Severity Index level. We compared antibiotic prescribing rates for telemedicine and in-person visits. Results: We identified 260 telemedicine visits and compared with 260 matched in-person visits. Antibiotics for ARIs were prescribed for 29% of telemedicine visits and 28% of in-person visits (odds ratio [OR] 1.038; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-1.52; p = 0.846). This finding did not materially change after adjustment for age and gender (adjusted OR 1.034; 95% CI 0.70-1.53; p = 0.86). Conclusions: Antibiotic prescribing rates for ARIs were similar for patients seen by telemedicine and patients seen in-person at two urban EDs. If differences in antibiotic stewardship between telemedicine and in-person encounters are found, contextual factors unrelated to the video-based evaluation should be investigated.