Comparison of diagnosis and prescribing practices between virtual visits and office visits for adults diagnosed with uncomplicated urinary tract infections within a primary care network.

OBJECTIVES: Telemedicine visits are an increasingly popular method of care for mild infectious complaints, including uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs), and they are an important target for antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) to evaluate quality of prescribing. In this study, we compared antimicrobial prescribing in a primary care network for uncomplicated UTIs treated through virtual visits and at in-office visits.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study comparing guideline-concordant antibiotic prescribing for uncomplicated UTI between virtual visits and office visits.

SETTING: Primary care network composed of 44 outpatient sites and a single virtual visit platform.

PATIENTS: Adult female patients diagnosed with a UTI between January 1 and December 31, 2018.

METHODS: Virtual visit prescribing was compared to office visit prescribing, including agent, duration, and patient outcomes. The health system ASP provides annual education to all outpatient providers regarding local antibiogram trends and prescribing guidelines. Guideline-concordant therapy was assessed based on the network's ASP guidelines.

RESULTS: In total, 350 patients were included, with 175 per group. Patients treated for a UTI through a virtual visit were more likely to receive a first-line antibiotic agent (74.9% vs 59.4%; P = .002) and guideline-concordant duration (100% vs 53.1%; P < .001). Patients treated through virtual visits were also less likely to have a urinalysis (0% vs 97.1%; P < .001) or urine culture (0% vs 73.1%; P < .001) ordered and were less likely to revisit within 7 days (5.1% vs 18.9%; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: UTI care through a virtual visit was associated with more appropriate antimicrobial prescribing compared to office visits and decreased utilization of diagnostic and follow-up resources.