We use a recently proposed staggered difference-in-differences approach to investigate effects of adoption of an online consultation system in English general practice on antibiotic prescribing patterns. The target estimand is the average effect for each group of practices (defined by year of adoption) in each year, which we aggregate across all adopting practices, by group, and by time since adoption. We find strong evidence of a positive effect of adoption on antibiotic prescribing rates, though the magnitude of effect is relatively small. As time since adoption increases, the effect size increases, while effects vary across groups.

翻译：我们运用近期提出的交错倍差法，研究英国全科诊所采纳在线问诊系统对抗生素处方模式的影响。目标估计量为按采纳年份分组的各诊所组别在各年份的平均处理效应，我们分别对所有采纳诊所、按组别及按采纳后时间间隔进行汇总。研究结果有力证实了系统采纳对抗生素处方率具有正向影响，但效应规模相对较小。随着采纳后时间推移，效应量逐渐增大，且不同组别间存在异质性影响。