Table 2.
Characteristics of Study Cohort by ID Consult Strategy
| Characteristics | All Patientsa N = 738 |
TM n = 162 |
SOC n = 576 |
P Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | <.01 | |||
| Median (IQR)b | 58 (45–70) | 62 (50–76) | 57 (43–68) | |
| Gender | .09 | |||
| Male | 475 (64) | 95 (59) | 380 (66) | |
| Female | 263 (36) | 67 (41) | 196 (34) | |
| Race | .01 | |||
| White | 512 (69) | 129 (80) | 383 (66) | |
| Black | 184 (25) | 28 (17) | 156 (27) | |
| Other | 42 (6) | 5 (3) | 37 (6) | |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | ||||
| Median (IQR)b | 2 (0–5) | 3 (1–5) | 2 (0–5) | .15 |
| History of intravenous drug use | 85 (12) | 17 (10) | 68 (12) | .64 |
| Admitting Hospital (Location, Bed Size) | ||||
| Hospital A (urban, 1132 beds) | - | - | 209 (36) | |
| Hospital B (urban, 173 beds) | - | - | 83 (14) | |
| Hospital C (urban, 457 beds) | - | - | 144 (25) | |
| Hospital D (urban, 235 beds) | - | - | 98 (17) | |
| Hospital E (urban, 100 beds) | - | - | 42 (7) | |
| Hospital F (rural, 241 beds) | - | 45 (28) | - | |
| Hospital G (rural, 67 beds) | - | 6 (4) | - | |
| Hospital H (rural, 101 beds) | - | 31 (19) | - | |
| Hospital I (rural, 109 beds) | - | 17 (10) | - | |
| Hospital J (suburban, 175 beds) | - | 63 (39) | - | |
| Source of Bacteremia | .26 | |||
| Endovascular | 17 (2) | 3 (2) | 14 (2) | |
| Respiratory | 59 (8) | 20 (12) | 39 (7) | |
| Gastrointestinal | 12 (2) | 3 (2) | 9 (2) | |
| Genitourinary | 11 (1) | 2 (1) | 9 (2) | |
| Skin and soft tissue | 284 (39) | 54 (34) | 230 (40) | |
| Bone/joint | 84 (11) | 18 (11) | 66 (11) | |
| Catheter/hardware | 127 (17) | 24 (15) | 103 (18) | |
| Other | 73 (10) | 16 (10) | 57 (10) | |
| Unknown | 71 (10) | 22 (13) | 49 (9) | |
| MRSA bacteremia | 312 (42) | 83 (51) | 229 (40) | .01 |
| Complicated bacteremia | 498 (68) | 96 (60) | 402 (70) | .04 |
| Laboratory and Physiologic Measures | ||||
| Lactate ≥2 mmol/L | 234 (32) | 55 (34) | 179 (31) | .49 |
| WBC >12/µL or <4/µL | 473 (64) | 104 (64) | 369 (64) | .97 |
| Temperature >38°C or <36°C | 167 (23) | 47 (29) | 120 (21) | .03 |
| Quick SOFA ≥2 | 80 (11) | 19 (12) | 61 (11) | .34 |
| SBP ≤100 mmHg | 99 (13) | 24 (15) | 75 (13) | .55 |
| Respiratory rate ≥22 | 162 (22) | 39 (24) | 123 (21) | .46 |
| GCS <15 | 143 (19) | 32 (20) | 111 (19) | .89 |
| BCID use | 474 (64) | 96 (59) | 378 (66) | .14 |
| Hours to ID Consult | ||||
| Median (IQR)b | 23 (14–33) | 26 (18–37) | 22 (13–32) | <.01 |
| Hours to Gram stain | ||||
| Median (IQR)b | 19 (15–23) | 20 (16–25) | 18 (15–23) | .02 |
Abbreviations: BCID, Verigene blood culture identification; CCI, Charlson comorbidity index; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; ID, infectious diseases; IQR, interquartile range; MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SOC, standard of care; SOFA, sequential organ failure assessment; TM, telemedicine; WBC, white blood cell.
aDenominator reflects 27 patients excluded due to death before measurement time frame.
bTable values represent n (%) for each group based on χ 2 tests, unless otherwise noted.