TELEmedicine as an intervention for sepsis in emergency departments: a multicenter, comparative effectiveness study (TELEvISED Study)

Sepsis is a life-threatening infection that affects over 1.7 million Americans annually. Low-volume rural hospitals have worse sepsis outcomes, and emergency department (ED)-based telemedicine (tele-ED) has been one promising strategy for improving rural sepsis care. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of tele-ED consultation on sepsis care and outcomes in rural ED patients. The TELEvISED study is a multicenter (n = 25) retrospective propensity-matched comparative effectiveness study of tele-ED care for rural sepsis patients in a mature tele-ED network. Telemedicine-exposed patients will be matched with non telemedicine patients using a propensity score to predict tele-ED use. The primary outcome is 28-day hospital free days, and secondary outcomes include adherence with guidelines, mortality and organ failure. ClinicalTrials.gov: . Sepsis is a life-threatening infection that affects over 1.7 million Americans annually. Sepsis patients in low-volume rural hospitals die more often, and emergency department-based real-time video telemedicine has been one promising strategy for improving rural sepsis care. This study evaluates the impact of telemedicine consultation on sepsis care and outcomes in rural sepsis patients. The TELEvISED study is conducted in 25 rural hospitals that participate in a mature rural telemedicine network. Patients for whom telemedicine is used will be compared with those for whom it is not used to measure the effect on mortality, hospital length-of-stay and secondary outcomes including quality of care and severity of illness.