title: Requesting physicians' experiences regarding infectious disease consultations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Solicited consultations constitute a substantial workload for infectious disease (ID) specialists in the hospital setting. The objectives of this survey were to describe requesting physicians' experiences regarding ID consultations.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a university-affiliated hospital in France in 2009. All physicians were eligible (n = 530) and received a self-administered questionnaire. The main outcomes were reasons for request and opinion. Secondary outcomes were frequency of request and declared adherence to recommendations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participation rate was 44.7% (237/530). Among the responders, 187 (79%) had solicited the ID consultation service within the previous year. Ninety-three percent of the responders (173/187) were satisfied with the ID consultation. The main reasons for requesting consultations were the need for therapeutic advice (93%), quality of care improvement (73%) and the rapidity of access (61%). ID consultations were requested several times a month by 52% (72/138) of senior physicians and by 73% (36/49) of residents (p = 0.01). Self-reported adherence to diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations was 83% and 79%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The respondent requesting physicians expressed great satisfaction regarding ID consultations that they requested principally to improve patient care and to assist in medical decision making.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, F-38043, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pavese
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sellier
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laborde
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gennai
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: François
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006302:Health Services Research; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires