Pediatric Emergency Physicians’ Comfort Level Providing Urgent Care for Adults on Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience at an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Objective: Our objectives were to assess the comfort level of pediatric emergency physicians (PEPs) providing urgent care to adult patients on telemedicine (APOTM) when redeployed during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, how it changed over time, and what resources were helpful.Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective pre-post cross-sectional survey of PEPs providing urgent care to APOTM with COVID-19 symptoms during the COVID-19 surge from March 12, 2020, to June 12, 2020 (the "care period") at two academic pediatric emergency departments in New York City. A retrospective chart review was also conducted. We include data on demographics of PEPs and adult patients; comfort level of PEPs providing urgent care to APOTM with COVID-19 symptoms pre-and post-threemonth care period and effective resources.Results: Sixty-five PEPs provided urgent care to 1515 APOTM with COVID-19 symptoms during the care period. Pre-pandemic, 22/43 (51%) of responders feared caring for APOTM; 6/43 (14%) were comfortable. At the end of the care period, 25/42 (58%) of the responders stated they were comfortable caring for these patients. Factors associated with increased comfort level were: increased volume of patients over time, treatment algorithms, group support via electronic communication, and real-time back-up by a general emergency medicine (GEM) physician. Reduced medicolegal liability was also cited. Conclusion:With minimal additional training and resources, PEPs can increase their comfort to provide urgent care to APOTM with COVID-19 symptoms. As future pandemics may disproportionately affect certain patient populations (adults versus pediatrics), interventions such as treatment algorithms, group support via emails and texts, and sub-specialty backup should be incorporated into redeployment plans for urgent care telemedicine programs. Future research is needed to determine the adaptability of other medical specialties to cross-cover a different specialty from their own if needed.