778. ID Rocks It: Infectious Disease Remotely Offered Consultative Knowledge and Support via Inpatient Telehealth

BACKGROUND: Infectious diseases (ID) consultation is associated with improved outcomes for patients hospitalized with infection. Provision of this service is not practical for many smaller hospitals, particularly critical access facilities. We sought to evaluate the impact of an electronic, asynchronous consultative service (“eConsults”) at two rural hospitals without on-site ID support. METHODS: Beginning July 2018, ID physicians at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, began performing asynchronous eConsults for patients hospitalized at Mayo Clinic Health System (MCHS) Albert Lea and MCHS Austin Hospitals. The first 100 consecutive patients receiving eConsults (cases) were compared with patients admitted for infection at the same facilities prior to pilot initiation (controls). Cases were matched to controls using 1:3 propensity match based on age, gender, race, and weighted Charlson comorbidity index. The primary outcome was readmission or death within 30 days after hospital discharge. RESULTS: Cases (n = 100) were more likely to have been hospitalized in the 6 months prior to the index hospitalization than controls (n = 300) (P < 0.0001). Patients with ID eConsult had a significantly decreased odds of death at 30 days (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2–0.7, P = 0.003) and there was a trend toward decreased readmission at 30 days (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2–1.1, P = 0.07). The mean length of stay was significantly longer for cases (5.7 days vs. 3.8 days, P =0.003). However, ID eConsult did not occur until 2.6 days into hospitalization, on average. CONCLUSION: ID eConsultation was associated with lower odds of 30-day mortality. The increased length of stay may be mitigated by encouraging ID eConsults earlier during hospitalization. Inpatient ID eConsults represent a high-value proposition for patients and providers and a feasible means of expanding the reach of ID physicians. This novel care delivery model warrants further investigations. [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.