Prospective study of telephone calls to a hotline for infectious disease consultation: analysis of 7,863 solicited consultations over a 1-year period.
To respond to the increasing requests of non-infectious disease physicians for access to infectious diseases expertise, a hotline was created in the infectious diseases consultation (IDC) unit of the Grenoble university-affiliated hospital (GUH). This study describes the patterns of solicited consultations provided by the hotline during a 1-year period. We conducted a prospective study of consecutive solicited IDCs requested by physicians in 2008. A total of 7,863 consultations were requested by physicians over 1 year; 4,407 (56.0%) by ambulatory physicians, 2,933 (37.3%) by GUH physicians, and 523 (6.7%) by physicians in public or private hospitals. The majority of consultations were requested via cell phone (58.7%). The main reasons for requesting a consultation were related to antimicrobial treatment for hospital-based physicians and prophylaxis for ambulatory physicians (p < 0.001). Recommendations to perform diagnostic or monitoring tests were less frequent in ambulatory medicine (16%) than in the GUH (59%) or other hospitals (63%, p < 0.001). The route of consultation for patients with nosocomial infections was more likely to be formal (p < 0.001). The activity of the IDC hotline attests to an important need for such expertise consultation, both in hospitals and in ambulatory medicine.
Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital, Grenoble, France. SGennai@chu-grenoble.fr
S
S
Gennai
P
P
François
E
E
Sellier
J-P
JP
Vittoz
V
V
Hincky-Vitrat
P
P
Pavese
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D040421:Cell Phone; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006785:Hospitals, University; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010820:Physicians; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013038:Specialization; D013689:Telephone
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents