Assessing Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions on Discharge Antibiotic Regimens
Interventions implemented by pharmacists were more likely to be accepted by prescribers.
One of the leading causes of antimicrobial resistance has been the inappropriate prescribing of antimicrobials. This issue has consistently been recognized by experts as a very serious threat to public health.
In order to optimize the use of antimicrobials and provide the best course of care for patients, the implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASP) are necessary.
There has been research which suggest that a significant amount of antibiotic regimens are completed upon discharge. Now, investigators from 2 branches of the Memorial Regional Hospital in Florida have conducted an assessment of antimicrobials at discharge from the hospital.
The data was presented at the 23rd Annual Making a Difference in Infectious Disease Meeting 2021 virtual sessions.
The retrospective chart analysis study included the assessment of 168 discharge regimens, of which 101 were in the intervention group and 67 were in the control group. The intervention group consisted of patients who received pharmacist evaluation, while the control group consisted of patients who did not receive pharmacist evaluation.
The primary outcome was to assess the appropriateness of discharge antibiotic regimens between the two groups.
Findings from the assessment showed that 91% of antimicrobial discharge regimens were prescribed appropriately in the group who received pharmacist evaluation, compared to 68.7% in the group who received no evaluation.
Additionally, 69% of the interventions that were implemented by pharmacists were accepted by prescribers.
“Appropriateness of antimicrobial discharge orders increase with pharmacist-led intervention compared to regimens that did not receive pharmacist-led intervention. There was no difference in hospital readmissions within 30 days or ED visits within 72 hours of discharge due to a reoccurrence of the index infection(s) between patients who received pharmacist-led intervention, and patients who did not,” the authors wrote. “The data from this study offers further evidence to support the implementation of pharmacist-led interventions on discharge antibiotics.”
