The Effect of Sepsis Recognition on Telemedicine Use in Rural Emergency Department Sepsis Treatment

Background: Provider-to-provider emergency department telehealth (tele-ED) has been proposed to improve rural sepsis care. The objective of this study was to measure the association between sepsis documentation and tele-ED use, treatment guideline adherence, and mortality. Methods: This analysis was a multicenter (n = 23) cohort study of sepsis patients treated in rural emergency departments (EDs) that participated in a tele-ED network between August 2016 and June 2019. The primary outcome was whether sepsis was documented explicitly in the clinical note impression in the local ED, and the primary exposure was rural tele-ED use, with secondary outcomes of time to tele-ED use, 3-h guideline adherence, and in-hospital mortality. Results: Data from 1,146 rural sepsis patients were included, 315 (27%) had tele-ED used and 415 (36%) had sepsis recognized in the rural ED. Tele-ED use was not independently associated with sepsis recognition (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.23, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.90-1.67). Sepsis recognition was associated with earlier tele-ED activation (adjusted hazard ratio 1.66, 95% CI: 1.28-2.15) and greater 3-h guideline adherence (aOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.03-1.83) Sepsis recognition was not independently associated with mortality (aOR 1.32, 95% CI 0.97-1.80). Conclusions: Although tele-ED care is a promising strategy to improve sepsis outcomes, its use was limited by under-recognition of sepsis in rural EDs.