Curbside Consultation in Infectious Diseases: A Prospective Study

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Abstract
This study prospectively evaluates curbside (unofficial, informal) consultation (CSC) directed to the hospital-based Infectious Disease Consultation Service (IDCS) in a 1,000-bed university-affiliated, general teaching hospital. Official consultation (DC) was neither solicited nor discouraged. During a one-year period, the IDCS was consulted officially about 532 patients (503 inpatients, 29 outpatients) and unofficially about 269 patients. Only 31 (11.511,10) of the 269 CSCs subsequently resulted in OCs. Problems discussed during a CSC ranged from simple to complicated and life threatening, with pneumonia, hepatitis, and syphilis being the illnesses most frequently discussed. Forty-two percent of the CSCs were sought by the internal medicine housestaff, whereas ∼29% were sought by internal medicine staff physicians. It may be concluded that a CSC in infectious diseases is common, that it sometimes involves complicated and/or life-threatening illnesses but usually does not result in a subsequent DC, and that it requires a considerable expenditure of time by the Infectious Disease Service. A CSC may also involve the exchange of inaccurate or insufficient information between inquiring physicians and the Infectious Disease Service.

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