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Few rural emergency departments (EDs) have immediate access to on-site specialists in pediatric emergency care. To assess the effect of telemedicine on quality of care, researchers reviewed charts for children in the highest triage category who presented to five non-teaching rural EDs during the two years before and after implementation of real-time telemedicine access to pediatric critical care specialists at an academic children's hospital. Consultation was at the discretion of the treating physician.
Of 320 patients, 58 received telemedicine consultations, 63 had telephone consultations, and 199 had no pediatric specialist consultations. Children who received telemedicine consultation were younger than those who received no consultation (…