Patterns of antibiotic prescribing behavior show that both telemedicine and office-based clinicians over-prescribed antibiotics to treat acute respiratory infections, but telemedicine clinicians tended to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Infections in Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine Visits

Lori Uscher-Pines, Andrew W. Mulcahy, David Cowling, Gerald P. Hunter, Rachel M. Burns, Ateev Mehrotra

ResearchPosted on rand.org Mar 28, 2017Published in: JAMA Internal Medicine, v. 175, no. 7, July 2015, p. 1234-1235. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.2024

Patterns of antibiotic prescribing behavior show that both telemedicine and office-based clinicians over-prescribed antibiotics to treat acute respiratory infections, but telemedicine clinicians tended to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Key Takeaways

  • Overall, antibiotics were prescribed at about the same rate by office-based physicians and Teledoc providers.
  • Both settings had high rates of antibiotics prescribed inappropriately for conditions such as bronchitis.
  • Teledoc providers prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics more often than office-based physicians, which may be a conservative practice in response to having little diagnostic information.
  • Timely feedback to physicians could help adjust provider behavior, and patient educational campaigns could help reduce consumer demand.
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Document Details

  • Copyright: 2015, American Medical Association
  • Publisher: American Medical Association
  • Availability: Non-RAND
  • Year: 2015
  • Pages: 2
  • Document Number: EP-67071

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