Rural ED Doctors Make Fewer Errors When Using Telehealth, According to UC-Davis Study

Emergency department physicians in rural hospitals make fewer medication administration errors when they consult with a pediatric critical care specialist via a videoconferencing system, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. UC-Davis Children's Hospital researchers found that that the ED physicians made medication administration errors 3% of the time when using telemedicine to connect with a specialist, 11% of the time when consulting with a specialist by phone and 13% of the time when not consulting with a specialist.

• "Telemedicine Consults May Reduce Errors at Rural ERs" (Pittman, Reuters, 11/25).