Hospital Follow Ups

When on the inpatient consult service, we are frequently consulted on patients who will need further ID assistance...with continued monitoring, antibiotics management, assessments for cure or improvement, etc. If there is ever a patient who you think may need further ID input after discharge, it is usually best for the patient for them to be scheduled with you in the ID Clinic as an outpatient (particularly if they are on a non-medical service as an inpatient). Use your and your attending's judgement on which patients should be followed as an outpatient.

• In general, if a patient is discharged on antibiotics, and the duration of treatment is not determined prior to discharge, you should see that patient to determine when it is safe to discontinue antibiotics.


• If a patient is discharged on IV or oral antibiotics for an illness where there is a way of determining clinical response to therapy (for example, abscesses and osteomyelitis can be evaluated using imaging), you should see that patient in follow up to assess for improvement or cure.


• If a patient will require long-term suppressive or prophylactic antibiotics (particularly in immunosuppressed patients), you should see that patient in follow up, at least for a few visits, until they are stable on therapy and their PCP can take over.

Remember, once you are responsible for a consult as an inpatient, that patient is YOURS to follow as an outpatient. If you are unable to arrange for follow up with you, and you schedule the patient to be seen by another provider, you MUST communicate this to the provider who will see the patient. If you see a patient in consult who already belongs to an ID provider, you should have that patient follow up with their primary ID provider after discharge (and also communicate this to that provider).

Yvonne Carter, MD