Effect of Teledermatology on Length of Hospital Admission, Length of Stay, 30 Day Readmission Rate, and Antibiotic Use in Patients Presenting With Cellulitis vs Pseudocellulitis in an Academic ED Setting

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: The effect of teledermatology on length of hospital admission, length of stay, 30 day readmission rate, and antibiotic use in patients presenting with cellulitis vs pseudocellulitis in an academic emergency department setting.

Detailed Description: The Investigator hope to determine if the implementation of teledermatology in the emergency department (ED) at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is beneficial in diagnosing cases of cellulitis and pseudocellulitis conditions. Prior studies have indicated that misdiagnosis may occur in up to 28% of patients in the ED with these conditions. Additionally, dermatological consults have been shown to change diagnosis or management of these conditions in more than 60% of the patients examined. Without the use of teledermatology, however, a dermatological consult would be prohibitively expensive and take time to obtain. The investigator proposes that by utilizing teledermatology in emergency rooms, the investigator can make faster, yet just as accurate, dermatological diagnoses in patients presenting with cellulitis-like symptoms. Subsequently, by reducing the number of misdiagnoses, unnecessary use of antibiotics and hospitalizations will also decrease, lowering health care costs and simultaneously providing patients with faster treatment of the actual dermatologic condition.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Over 18
Present to the ED with cellulitis-like symptoms, including but not limited to the following: tenderness, redness, swelling, expansive lesion

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Teledermatology consult	teledermatology consult	To determine the benefit of teledermatology to differentiate cellulitis from pseudocellulitis in emergency departments through the analysis of time spent in the emergency department (ED), admission to the inpatient hospital, antibiotic use, time to improvement, and 30-day remission rate. This arm will undergo imaging, a dermatologic assessment will be performed, AND this assessment will be entered into the patients chart.
Routine Care	Routine Care	To determine the benefit of teledermatology to differentiate cellulitis from pseudocellulitis in emergency departments through the analysis of time spent in the emergency department (ED), admission to the inpatient hospital, antibiotic use, time to improvement, and 30-day remission rate. This arm will undergo imaging, a dermatologic assessment will be performed, AND this assessment WILL NOT be entered into the patients chart

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Admission to the hospital	30 days	To determine the benefit of teledermatology to differentiate cellulitis from pseudocellulitis in emergency departments through the analysis of time spent in the emergency department (ED), admission to the inpatient hospital, antibiotic use, time to improvement, We anticipate a high rate of pseudocellulitis, and this aim will determine if there is a difference in patient admissions among those who receive a dermatologic assessment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Antibiotic use	30 days post admission	Will assess the frequency of antibiotic use between groups
30 day readmission rate	30 days post admission	Will assess hospitalization/emergency department readmission in the following 30 days
Length of stay in the hospital	30 days post admission	Will assess time spent in the hospital for those that were admitted

Locations (1): The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
🇺🇸
Columbus, Ohio, United States

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