In a new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, data showed that antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) were significantly more common in virtual urgent care (UC) settings vs in-person UC settings. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic found that 58% of RTI virtual visits resulted in an antibiotic prescription, while only 43% of in-person visits did. Data included 19,003 visits to virtual UC and 69,189 visits to in-person UC from 2018 through 2022. COVID-19 visits were excluded from the study. Additionally, sinusitis was diagnosed in 36% of virtual visits compared to 14% of in-person visits and was associated with higher rates of antibiotic prescribing in both cases. There were 39 physicians who saw patients in both settings, and in the visits they attended, the odds of antibiotic prescription with UC virtual care were 1.71 times higher than with UC in-person care.
What’s interesting: Cleveland Clinic has multiple brick-and-mortar urgent cares across the northeastern Ohio landscape, and its website offers online reservations for patients to queue ahead of arrival as well as dynamic wait-time estimates posted for each location. The organization is using some best practices to make in-person UC arrival a better experience for patients, which could help sway them toward in-person care.
Read More