Impact of telemedicine on antibiotic prescriptions (VIDEO)

April 29, 2019

For Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr Bobby Lazzara discusses a retrospective cohort study published in Pediatrics that examined antibiotic prescribing behaviors for acute respiratory infections in 3 different care settings: direct-to-consumer telemedicine, urgent care, and the primary care office.

Transcript of video:

I’m Dr. Bobby Lazarra and this is the Medical News Minute.

Published in the journal of Pediatrics, a retrospective study from UPMC Children’s Hospital looking at claims data comparing antibiotic prescriptions in direct to consumer telemedicine interactions with urgent care and primary care provider office interactions. The focus, well it was solely on acute respiratory infections in patients up to the age of 17. In total, there were over a half million visits in the matched samples. The results, it turns out telemedicine visits ended up with significantly more prescriptions for antibiotics and more importantly, they were less concordant with recommended clinical guidelines. So, one step forward for technology, two steps backward for clinical medicine.

I’m Dr. Bobby Lazarra and this is the Medical News Minute.