BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Telehealth visits increased significantly during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic without consensus on the appropriate scope of telehealth antibiotic prescribing within pediatric primary care. We describe telehealth antibiotic prescribing patterns within our statewide pediatric primary care network during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. METHODS In a retrospective observational study of a large statewide pediatric primary care network, we identified and analyzed telehealth and in-person encounters with oral antibiotics prescribed from March 2020 to July 2021. We focused on the top 5 general diagnosis groupings using International Classification of Disease 10 codes. RESULTS Of the 55 926 encounters with an oral antibiotic prescribed, 12.5% were conducted via telehealth and 87.5% in person. The proportion of telehealth antibiotic encounters varied significantly according to diagnosis category (P <.001): ear (30.8%), skin and subcutaneous (21.8%), respiratory (18.8%), genitourinary (6.3%), and Lyme disease infections (3.8%). The proportion of telehealth antibiotic encounters for all diagnosis categories peaked in spring of 2020. The greatest proportion of telehealth antibiotic prescribing during the most recent 4weeks of the analysis were Lyme disease infections (11.7%) and for skin and subcutaneous tissue infections (3.1%). CONCLUSIONS Telehealth continues to be used to prescribe antibiotics even after the initial stage of the pandemic. Clinicians and patients would benefit from clearer guidelines about the appropriate use of antibiotics prescribed during telehealth encounters.

中文翻译：

---

通过 COVID-19 大流行为儿童开具远程医疗抗生素处方的趋势。

背景和目标 在 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行期间，远程医疗访问量显着增加，但尚未就儿科初级保健中远程医疗抗生素处方的适当范围达成共识。我们描述了 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行期间我们全州儿科初级保健网络中的远程医疗抗生素处方模式。方法 在对全州范围内的大型儿科初级保健网络进行的一项回顾性观察研究中，我们确定并分析了 2020 年 3 月至 2021 年 7 月期间使用口服抗生素处方的远程医疗和面对面接触。我们使用国际疾病分类重点关注前 5 个一般诊断分组10 个代码。结果 在 55 926 次口服抗生素治疗中，12.5% 是通过远程医疗进行的，87.5% 是亲自进行的。远程医疗抗生素遭遇的比例因诊断类别而异（P <.001）：耳（30.8%）、皮肤和皮下（21.8%）、呼吸道（18.8%）、泌尿生殖器（6.3%）和莱姆病感染（ 3.8%）。所有诊断类别的远程医疗抗生素遭遇比例在 2020 年春季达到峰值。在最近 4 周的分析中，远程医疗抗生素处方的最大比例是莱姆病感染 (11.7%) 和皮肤和皮下组织感染 (3.1%) . 结论 即使在大流行的初始阶段之后，远程医疗仍继续用于开抗生素处方。临床医生和患者将受益于关于在远程医疗就诊期间适当使用抗生素的更明确的指导方针。