Quality of care in telemedicine
In the US, children who receive online consultation are often prescribed too much antibiotics
I Nthe United States, excessive prescription of antibiotics has been observed in children who receive online consultations, reveals a study published in the Pediatrics review. “Antibiotics are not automatic!” This campaign slogan from the beginning of the 2000s remains true today, when use of antibiotics is still high and resistance to these medicines has become a concerning factor in deaths worldwide. In the United States, this phenomenon is particularly apparent in children using telemedicine, reveal new studies carried out on over 340,000 insured children who consulted a doctor between 2015 and 2016 for an acute respiratory illness.
The study revealed that 52 per cent of children who opted for a remote consultation were prescribed antibiotics for infections such as sinusitis, streptococcus and bronchiolitis, as opposed to 31 per cent of children who saw their doctor in person and 42 per cent who received treatment from emergency services.
ONLINE CONSULTATIONS
The results of this research show that a significant number of doctors using online consultations fail to consider recommendations to ensure the treatment corresponds to the diagnosis, particularly viral infections such as colds or flu, which can be treated without antibiotics.
These recommendations were not followed in four out of 10 cases for telemedicine, compared to three in 10 cases in emergency treatment clinics, and two in 10 cases in medical practices, the study highlights.
“As a general paediatrician, Iʼm interested in making care easier and less burdensome for families, and I think there are many technological innovations that aim to do this, but I think it also is important to make sure the quality of the care that children receive remains high,” warns Dr Kristin Ray, who led the research along with her colleagues at the school of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.
This problem is an even greater issue due to the rapid expansion of telemedicine. According to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published in November 2018, antibiotic resistance could kill 2.4 million people between now and 2050 in north America, Australia and Europe.
AFP Relaxnews