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[The pediatrician and the telephone]
1Unité des maladies respiratoires et allergiques de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France.
Insights
Pediatricians must exercise caution during telephone consultations, as they hold legal responsibility. Always ensure a child receives a physical examination if parents call a second time for advice regarding pathologies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Medical Ethics
- Telehealth
Context:
- Half of pediatrician office calls are for medical advice on pathologies.
- Physicians face legal responsibility during telephone consultations.
- Current practices for telephone advice require refinement.
Purpose:
- To outline essential guidelines for pediatric telephone consultations.
- To emphasize physician responsibility in remote patient interactions.
- To suggest improvements for managing chronic pathology advice requests.
Summary:
- Pediatricians are legally responsible for advice given during phone calls.
- A mandatory in-person examination is required upon a second parental call.
- Dedicated phone services with trained practitioners can aid chronic condition management.
Impact:
- Enhances patient safety by ensuring necessary physical examinations.
- Clarifies legal and ethical boundaries for pediatric telehealth.
- Improves the quality of care for children with chronic conditions via remote support.
Abstract:
Approximately half of the phone calls received in the pediatrician's office are telephone consultations or advice requests concerning pathologies. In those cases the pediatrician has to know that his responsibility is involved. Among the rules to be applied in this telephone practice, he must always require that the child be examined when parents call for the second time. In some chronic pathologies permanent phone services with the participation of trained practitioners might be useful in order to properly answer parent's advice requests.