Survey on infectious disease telephone hotlines in primary care: General practitioners’ satisfaction and compliance with advice

Abstract

ObjectivesInfectious disease (ID) advice is a major part of antimicrobial stewardship programs. The objective of this study was to assess general practitioners’ (GPs)’ opinions and compliance with advice given by ID hotlines. Patients and methodsThis multicenter survey was based on the 7-day assessment of initial advice requested by GPs to a hotline set up by volunteer hospital ID teams to record advice for 3 years. The primary endpoint was the GPs’ satisfaction with the advice given by ID specialists. ResultsTen ID teams participated in the study and recorded 4138 requests for advice, of which 1325 requests included a proposal for antibiotic therapy and justified a follow-up call at seven days. Only 398 follow-up calls (30%) were carried out because many GPs were not reachable.GPs were very satisfied with ID hotlines: 58% considered them indispensable and 38% very useful. The recommendations provided by ID specialists were followed by GPs in more than 80% of cases. The two main motivations for GPs to call the hotline were to get quick advice (86%) and to receive help in managing a patient (76%). ConclusionsThe ID telephone consultations and advice systems for GPs are highly appreciated and are effective in terms of following the recommendations.