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A multi-state study analyzed prescribing patterns of influenza antiviral medications in emergency departments (ED) and urgent care (UC) centers and found that many high-risk adults (those with cardiovascular disease, renal disease, weakened immune systems, or individuals older than 70 years) with positive influenza virus test results do not receive antiviral treatment, which the authors believe could help reduce the risk of complications. As published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers found that slightly more than half of such patients received antiviral prescriptions—and just 80% of those prescriptions were ultimately filled by the patients. Authors note that providers in EDs and UC centers may not be aware of high-risk conditions in their patients due to the nature of the care setting, and individual providers may also have unique perspectives on the effectiveness of influenza antiviral treatment, especially when flu symptoms or progression is not severe. Researchers found high-risk patients aged 65 years and older were less likely to receive prescriptions or fills compared to younger high-risk adults. Patients receiving rapid flu tests in EDs and UCs were more likely to receive a prescription and fill the prescription for the antiviral medication. The study analyzed electronic health record data from 94 UCs and 142 EDs across 5 states, including a total of 10,700 patient encounters from October 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024.
Prescription fills: Encounters occurring exclusively at UCs had lower prescribing rates (50%) than those at EDs (61%) or combined ED/UCs (60%) (p<0.001). However, higher dispensing rates were found among UC (85%) than ED (78%) encounters (p<0.001).
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