The Impact of International Classification of Disease-Triggered Prescription Support on Telemedicine: Observational Analysis of Efficiency and Guideline Adherence.

Background: Integrating decision support systems into telemedicine may optimize consultation efficiency and adherence to clinical guidelines; however, the extent of such effects remains underexplored.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the use of ICD (International Classification of Disease)-coded prescription decision support systems (PDSSs) and the effects of these systems on consultation duration and guideline adherence during telemedicine encounters.

Methods: In this retrospective, single-center, observational study conducted from October 2021 to March 2022, adult patients who sought urgent digital care via direct-to-consumer video consultations were included. Physicians had access to current guidelines and could use an ICD-triggered PDSS (which was introduced in January 2022 after a preliminary test in the preceding month) for 26 guideline-based conditions. This study analyzed the impact of implementing automated prescription systems and compared these systems to manual prescription processes in terms of consultation duration and guideline adherence.

Results: This study included 10,485 telemedicine encounters involving 9644 patients, with 12,346 prescriptions issued by 290 physicians. Automated prescriptions were used in 5022 (40.67%) of the consultations following system integration. Before introducing decision support, 4497 (36.42%) prescriptions were issued, which increased to 7849 (63.57%) postimplementation. The physician's average consultation time decreased significantly to 9.5 (SD 5.5) minutes from 11.2 (SD 5.9) minutes after PDSS implementation (P<.001). Of the 12,346 prescriptions, 8683 (70.34%) were aligned with disease-specific international guidelines tailored for telemedicine encounters. Primary medication adherence in accordance with existing guidelines was significantly greater in the decision support group than in the manual group (n=4697, 93.53% vs n=1389, 49.14%; P<.001).

Conclusions: Most of the physicians adopted the PDSS, and the results demonstrated the use of the ICD-code system in reducing consultation times and increasing guideline adherence. These systems appear to be valuable for enhancing the efficiency and quality of telemedicine consultations by supporting evidence-based clinical decision-making.