scholarly journals 1130. Impact of a New Pediatric Antibiotic Stewardship Program on Ceftriaxone Use at an Academic Medical Center

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S656-S656
Author(s):  
Derek Evans ◽  
Mariana M Lanata Piazzon ◽  
Kaitlyn Schomburg

Abstract Background Hoop’s Family Children’s Hospital is a pediatric hospital with 72 beds, nested within Cabell Huntington Hospital. There is an established adult antibiotic stewardship program (ASP), however, since 2014 there has not been a pediatric infectious disease (ID) specialist and no pediatric ASP. With the recent hire of a pediatric ID specialist in Oct 2019 and the formation of a targeted pediatric ASP, we tracked the use of ceftriaxone (CRO) in our facility. Methods Starting January 2020, education was provided to pediatric providers in regards to appropriate CRO dosing and clinical indications via email communication. The main goals were to limit 100mg/kg/day dosing to severe infections and reduce CRO use in community-acquired pneumonia. This was sustained through intermittent prospective audits and feedback. A retrospective chart review was done from 2019-2021 for the months of January, April and December of each year. Patients ≤18 years of age who received CRO were included. Dosing, interval frequency, indication, and treatment duration were reviewed. Patients who received a single dose of CRO were excluded. Results From Jan 2019 – April 2021, 391 patient charts were reviewed (189 in the pre-intervention period and 202 in the post intervention period). There were no significant differences in age, race/ethnicity and gender in the two study groups. In the pre-intervention period, 86% of patients were prescribed CRO at severe infection dosing vs 33% in the post intervention period (p< 0.0001) (Figure 1). When dosing was paired with indication, only 20% of patients in the pre intervention period had the appropriate dosing per clinical indication compared to 83% in the post intervention period (p< 0.0001) (Figure 2). We also saw that in the pre-intervention period the most common indication for CRO was pneumonia (66%), which decreased to 57% in 2020 and to 35% in 2021 (p< 0.0001) (Figure 3). Figure 1 describes the percentage of patients receiving ceftriaxone at severe infection dosing. This changed from an average of 86% in the pre-intervention period to 33% in the post-intervention period. Figure 2 describes the percentage of patients receiving ceftriaxone at the appropriate dosing dependent on the clinical indication provided. This changed from 20% in the pre-intervention period to closer to 90% in the post-intervention period. Conclusion Pediatric specific ASP efforts and expertise proved to be crucial in appropriate CRO use in our institution. With a feasible education strategy and targeted prospective audit and feedback, there has been a sustained impact in inappropriate CRO use. This underscores the importance of targeted pediatric ASP efforts in pediatric hospitals within larger adult hospitals. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S412-S412
Author(s):  
Bhagyashri D Navalkele ◽  
Nora Truhett ◽  
Miranda Ward ◽  
Sheila Fletcher

Abstract Background High regulatory burden on hospital-onset (HO) infections has increased performance pressure on infection prevention programs. Despite the availability of comprehensive prevention guidelines, a major challenge has been communication with frontline staff to integrate appropriate prevention measures into practice. The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of educational intervention on HO CAUTI rates and urinary catheter days. Methods At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Infection prevention (IP) reports unit-based monthly HO infections via email to respective unit managers and ordering physician providers. Starting May 2018, IP assessed compliance to CAUTI prevention strategies per SHEA/IDSA practice recommendations (2014). HO CAUTI cases with noncompliance were labeled as “preventable” infections and educational justification was provided in the email report. No other interventions were introduced during the study period. CAUTI data were collected using ongoing surveillance per NHSN and used to calculate rates per 1,000 catheter days. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare pre- and post-intervention data. Results Prior to intervention (July 2017–March 2018), HO CAUTI rate was 1.43 per 1,000 catheter days. In the post-intervention period (July 2018–March 2019), HO CAUTI rate decreased to 0.62 per 1,000 catheter days. Comparison of pre- and post-intervention rates showed a statistically significant reduction in HO CAUTIs (P = 0.04). The total number of catheter days reduced, but the difference was not statistically significant (8,604 vs. 7,583; P = 0.06). Of the 14 HO CAUTIs in post-intervention period, 64% (8/14) were reported preventable. The preventable causes included inappropriate urine culturing practice in asymptomatic patients (5) or as part of pan-culture without urinalysis (2), and lack of daily catheter assessment for necessity (1). Conclusion At our institute, regular educational feedback by IP to frontline staff resulted in a reduction of HO CAUTIs. Feedback measure improved accountability, awareness and engagement of frontline staff in practicing appropriate CAUTI prevention strategies. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 264-264
Author(s):  
Margaret Soriano ◽  
Anne Chang ◽  
Aralee Galway ◽  
Laura Listro ◽  
Evaline Liu ◽  
...  

264 Background: Despite clear advantages of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems for safe cancer chemotherapy administration, persistent opportunities exist to further reduce chemotherapy order errors. Unintended dose escalation orders of previously dose reduced chemotherapy were the most commonly reported “near-miss” medication safety events at our institution. This can lead to potential patient harm, delays in care, decreased patient satisfaction, reduced infusion room efficiency, and increased care team workload and decreased satisfaction. We sought to reduce chemotherapy order errors using interventions developed with process improvement techniques. Methods: Unintended dose escalation errors per month (the primary outcome measure) were identified through the hospital safety reporting system and by monitoring the EHR (EPIC) chemotherapy administration reports to identify dose escalations. All cases were confirmed with primary chart review. The pre-intervention baseline assessment period was 6/2017-11/2017, and the post intervention period was 12/2017-5/2018. Two interventions were selected: 1) Revision of the nursing chemotherapy checklist posted on all infusion room workstations for use prior to releasing chemotherapy orders; and 2) educating ordering providers and nurses about new EHR functionality to display prior and future chemotherapy orders. Statistical Process Control chart analysis was conducted with upper (UCL) and lower (LCL) control limits of 3 standard deviations. The primary aim was to reduce the number of chemotherapy errors by 50% in the post-intervention period. Results: The pre-intervention period averaged 3.83 chemotherapy ordering errors per month (UCL = 9.71, LCL = 0). The post-intervention period significantly reduced the average errors per month to 1.33 (UCL = 4.97, LCL = 0). The copy/forward feature in multi-day cycles was the most common source of unintended dose escalations. Conclusions: Implementation of the 2 interventions resulted in a 65% reduction of unintended dose modification errors. Based on successful results and positive staff feedback, we plan to roll out these interventions at additional satellite facilities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s272-s272
Author(s):  
Ronald Beaulieu ◽  
Milner Staub ◽  
Thomas Talbot ◽  
Matthew Greene ◽  
Gowri Satyanarayana ◽  
...  

Background: Handshake antibiotic stewardship is an effective but resource-intensive strategy for reducing antimicrobial utilization. At larger hospitals, widespread implementation of direct handshake rounds may be constrained by available resources. To optimize resource utilization and mirror handshake antimicrobial stewardship, we designed an indirect feedback model utilizing existing team pharmacy infrastructure. Methods: The antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) utilized the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) improvement methodology to implement an antibiotic stewardship intervention centered on antimicrobial utilization feedback and patient-level recommendations to optimize antimicrobial utilization. The intervention included team-based antimicrobial utilization dashboard development, biweekly antimicrobial utilization data feedback of total antimicrobial utilization and select drug-specific antimicrobial utilization, and twice weekly individualized review by ASP staff of all patients admitted to the 5 hospitalist teams on antimicrobials with recommendations (discontinuation, optimization, etc) relayed electronically to team-based pharmacists. Pharmacists were to communicate recommendations as an indirect surrogate for handshake antibiotic stewardship. As reviewer duties expanded to include a rotation of multiple reviewers, a standard operating procedure was created. A closed-loop communication model was developed to ensure pharmacist feedback receipt and to allow intervention acceptance tracking. During implementation optimization, a team pharmacist-champion was identified and addressed communication lapses. An outcome measure of days of therapy per 1,000 patient days present (DOT/1,000 PD) and balance measure of in-hospital mortality were chosen. Implementation began April 5, 2019, and data were collected through October 31, 2019. Preintervention comparison data spanned December 2017 to April 2019. Results: Overall, 1,119 cases were reviewed by the ASP, of whom 255 (22.8%) received feedback. In total, 236 of 362 recommendations (65.2%) were implemented (Fig. 1). Antimicrobial discontinuation was the most frequent (147 of 362, 40.6%), and most consistently implemented (111 of 147, 75.3%), recommendation. The DOT/1,000 PD before the intervention compared to the same metric after intervention remained unchanged (741.1 vs 725.4; P = .60) as did crude in-hospital mortality (1.8% vs 1.7%; P = .76). Several contributing factors were identified: communication lapses (eg, emails not received by 2 pharmacists), intervention timing (mismatch of recommendation and rounding window), and individual culture (some pharmacists with reduced buy-in selectively relayed recommendations). Conclusion: Although resource efficient, this model of indirect handshake did not significantly impact total antimicrobial utilization. Through serial PDSA cycles, implementation barriers were identified that can be addressed to improve the feedback process. Communication, expectation management, and interpersonal relationship development emerged as critical issues contributing to poor recommendation adherence. Future PDSA cycles will focus on streamlining processes to improve communication among stakeholders.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


Author(s):  
Cihan Papan ◽  
Matthias Schröder ◽  
Mathias Hoffmann ◽  
Heike Knoll ◽  
Katharina Last ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The unrestricted use of linezolid has been linked to the emergence of linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (LRSE). We report the effects of combined antibiotic stewardship and infection control measures on the spread of LRSE in an intensive care unit (ICU). Methods Microbiological data were reviewed to identify all LRSE detected in clinical samples at an ICU in southwest Germany. Quantitative data on the use of antibiotics with Gram-positive coverage were obtained in defined daily doses (DDD) per 100 patient-days (PD). In addition to infection control measures, an antibiotic stewardship intervention was started in May 2019, focusing on linezolid restriction and promoting vancomycin, wherever needed. We compared data from the pre-intervention period (May 2018–April 2019) to the post-intervention period (May 2019–April 2020). Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed to determine the genetic relatedness of LRSE isolates. Results In the pre-intervention period, LRSE were isolated from 31 patients (17 in blood cultures). The average consumption of linezolid and daptomycin decreased from 7.5 DDD/100 PD and 12.3 DDD/100 PD per month in the pre-intervention period to 2.5 DDD/100 PD and 5.7 DDD/100 PD per month in the post-intervention period (p = 0.0022 and 0.0205), respectively. Conversely, vancomycin consumption increased from 0.2 DDD/100 PD per month to 4.7 DDD/100 PD per month (p < 0.0001). In the post-intervention period, LRSE were detected in 6 patients (4 in blood cultures) (p = 0.0065). WGS revealed the predominance of one single clone. Conclusions Complementing infection control measures by targeted antibiotic stewardship interventions was beneficial in containing the spread of LRSE in an ICU.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002199700
Author(s):  
Brian C. Bohn ◽  
Elizabeth A. Neuner ◽  
Vasilios Athans ◽  
Kaitlyn R. Rivard ◽  
Allison R. Riffle ◽  
...  

Background: In September 2018, pharmacy antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) services were expanded to include weekends at this academic medical center. Activities performed by AMS pharmacists on the weekends include blood culture rapid diagnostic (RDT) review, antiretroviral therapy (ART) review, prospective audit and feedback (PAF) utilizing clinical decision support, vancomycin dosing, and operational support. The purpose of this study was to assess the operational and clinical impact of these expanded AMS services. Methods: This single-center, quasi-experimental study included data from weekends before (9/2017–11/2017) and after (9/2018–11/2018) implementation. The descriptive primary outcome was the number of activities completed for each AMS activity type in the post-implementation group only. Secondary outcomes were time to AMS opportunity resolution, time to escalation or de-escalation following PAF or RDT alert, time to resolution of miscellaneous AMS related opportunities, length of stay (LOS), and antimicrobial use outcomes. Results: During the post-implementation period 1258 activities were completed, averaging 97/weekend. Inclusion criteria for time to resolution outcomes were met by 72 patients pre-implementation and 59 patients post. The median (IQR) time to AMS opportunity resolution decreased from 18.5 hours pre-intervention (7.7-35.7) to 8.5 hours post-intervention (IQR 1.8-14.0), p < 0.01. Time to escalation was 11.6 hours compared to 1.7 hours (p = 0.1), de-escalation 16.7 hours compared to 10.8 hours (p = 0.03), and miscellaneous opportunity 40.8 hours compared to 13.2 hours (p = 0.01). No differences were observed in LOS or antimicrobial use outcomes. Conclusion: Presence of pharmacist-driven weekend AMS services significantly reduced time to resolution of AMS opportunities. These data support the value of weekend AMS services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S549-S549
Author(s):  
Andrew M Nuibe ◽  
Van Tran ◽  
Rebecca E Levorson

Abstract Background Pneumonia is a leading cause of pediatric hospitalization in the United States. Our Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) recognized significant variation in the management of pediatric complicated pneumonia. We developed and implemented a quality improvement (QI) intervention to align the management of complicated pneumonia with national guidelines and compared the medical care and clinical outcomes between a pre-intervention period and two post-intervention periods. Methods We queried Webi Universe for all ICD-9 and ICD-10-related admissions for pneumonia at our facility from November 15, 2015 to February 28, 2019. Manual chart review was done to extract clinical points of interest and to ensure that all included patients met inclusion criteria. Our first intervention (period 1) consisted of education to providers to increase use of chest tubes instilled with fibrinolytics and to decrease empiric antistaphylococcal therapy. Our second intervention (period 2) consisted of a care process model which codified the standardized management made by the first intervention, followed by several didactic sessions. Results 29 patients were identified in the pre-intervention period, 11 in post-intervention period 1, and 27 in post-intervention period 2. Streptococcal species were the most common pathogens recovered in all periods. Following our interventions the number of video-assisted thorascopic procedures to drain complicated parapneumonic effusions decreased three-fold in favor of chest tubes instilled with fibrinolytics (P < 0.01). Our interventions also reduced empiric antistaphylococcal therapy within the first 48 hours of admission (P = 0.02) and decreased the use of empiric vancomycin three-fold (P = 0.01). Our interventions did not affect the median length of stay, frequency of pulmonary complications, number of 30-day readmissions, or duration of antimicrobial therapy. Conclusion Our ASP’s QI intervention decreased surgical drainage of complicated parapneumonic effusions and decreased the use of empiric antistaphylococcal agents without an increase in complications or readmissions. Opportunities remain to decrease the use of multiple antimicrobial agents within the first 48 hours of admission and to decrease the empiric use of antistaphylococcal therapy. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 1017-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Vicky Naa Kwarley Asare ◽  
Yvonne Adomakoh ◽  
Edeghonghon Olayemi ◽  
Enoch Mensah ◽  
Harriet Ghansah ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Pregnant women with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at increased risk for both pregnancy and SCD related morbidity and mortality. At the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), a national referral center in Accra, Ghana, the estimated maternal mortality ratio of women with and without SCD is 8,300 and 690 per 100,000 live births respectively (US, general population, maternal mortality ratio 14 per 100, 000 live births). In 2015, a multi-disciplinary obstetric SCD team was formed comprising obstetricians, hematologists, pulmonologists and nurses. In a before and after study design, we tested the hypothesis that implementing a multi-disciplinary team for care of pregnant women with SCD would significantly decrease maternal mortality. Methodology: The study received ethical approval from the Ethical and Protocol Review Committee, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana Institutional Review Board and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Data Coordinating Center (DCC). The pre-intervention period was from January 2014 to April 2015, and the post intervention period was May 2015 to May 2016. During the intervention period, members of the multi-disciplinary team evaluated participants at enrollment, during outpatient visits and during acute illnesses (inpatient and outpatient). Simple protocols were implemented for preventing and treating Acute Chest Syndrome (ACS). Balloons were purchased (substituted for incentive spirometry devices) and used routinely during management of acute pain episodes and after surgery. Multiple pulse oximetry machines were integrated into routine clinical practice for monitoring of oxygen desaturation. Close maternal and fetal monitoring were implemented. During the pre-intervention period, pregnant women were admitted to multiple wards throughout the hospital. Post-intervention, pregnant women were primarily admitted to two designated wards at the Obstetrics Department, for better coordinated care. All participants in the post-intervention period were followed from enrollment until six weeks postpartum. Members of the clinical research team and DCC adjudicated every vaso-occlusive pain episode, ACS episode, and acute event requiring hospitalization. Pain was defined as an acute episode, unrelated to labor and requiring hospitalization. ACS was defined based on the presence of at least 2 of the following criteria: fever, increased respiratory rate, chest pain, pulmonary auscultatory findings, increased O2 requirement or new radiodensity on chest roentgenogram. Results: A total of 154 and 91 deliveries by women with SCD were evaluated in the pre- and post-intervention period, respectively. The median age for cases in the pre-intervention period was 29 (range 18- 43) years. The median age for cases in post-intervention period was 29 (range 18-41) years and 35 participants had hemoglobin SSand 56had HbSC. Among the 91 participants, rates of pain and ACS were 194.6 (64/32.89) and 42.6 (14/32.89) events per 100 patient-years, respectively. Median gestational age at enrollment was 24 (range 7 - 40) weeks. Median gestational age at delivery was 38 (range 26 - 41) weeks. Perinatal mortality rates pre- and post-intervention were 74.3 per 1000 total births (11/ 148 X 1000) and 54.9 per 1000 total births (5/91 X 1000) respectively. Maternal mortality pre- and post-intervention were 9.7% (15 of 154) and 1.1% (1 of 91) of total deliveries respectively. The maternal mortality ratio pre- and post-intervention were 10,949 (15/137) and 1,163 (1/86) per 100,000 live births respectively. Cause of death pre-intervention period included: cardiopulmonary disease-60.0%, preeclampsia-6.67%, acute kidney injury-6.67%, severe anemia-20.0%, hypovolemic shock-6.67%. During the post-intervention period, the only death was an autopsy confirmed massive pulmonary embolism four days postpartum. Conclusion: In a low and middle income setting, a multidisciplinary team approach to care of pregnant women with SCD can dramatically decrease maternal mortality, as well as perinatal mortality. Further strategies must be employed to decrease the SCD related maternal mortality and perinatal mortality rates to levels expected in the non-SCD population and to implement multi-disciplinary SCD obstetric teams in other regions. Disclosures Asare: Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Adomakoh:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Olayemi:Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding; Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding. Mensah:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Ghansah:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Osei- Bonsu:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Crabbe:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Musah:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Hayfron- Benjamin:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Boafor:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. Kassim:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding. James:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research Fund: Research Funding. Oppong:Vanderbilt University Medical Center Gift Funds: Research Funding; Intramural University of Ghana Research fund: Research Funding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 1488-1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rubins ◽  
Robert Boxer ◽  
Adam Landman ◽  
Adam Wright

Abstract Objective To investigate the effects of adjusting the default order set settings on telemetry usage. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective, controlled, before-after study of patients admitted to a house staff medicine service at an academic medical center examining the effect of changing whether the admission telemetry order was pre-selected or not. Telemetry orders on admission and subsequent orders for telemetry were monitored pre- and post-change. Two other order sets that had no change in their default settings were used as controls. Results Between January 1, 2017 and May 1, 2018, there were 1, 163 patients admitted using the residency-customized version of the admission order set which initially had telemetry pre-selected. In this group of patients, there was a significant decrease in telemetry ordering in the post-intervention period: from 79.1% of patients in the 8.5 months prior ordered to have telemetry to 21.3% of patients ordered in the 7.5 months after (χ2 = 382; P &lt; .001). There was no significant change in telemetry usage among patients admitted using the two control order sets. Discussion Default settings have been shown to affect clinician ordering behavior in multiple domains. Consistent with prior findings, our study shows that changing the order set settings can significantly affect ordering practices. Our study was limited in that we were unable to determine if the change in ordering behavior had significant impact on patient care or safety. Conclusion Decisions about default selections in electronic health record order sets can have significant consequences on ordering behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S140-S141
Author(s):  
Vidya Atluri ◽  
Frank Tverdek ◽  
Sarah Elsayed ◽  
Beverly Chan ◽  
Catherine Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam (VPT) combination therapy is associated with nephrotoxicity and provides broad-spectrum coverage that may be unnecessary. We conducted a pre-post implementation study to assess the impact of an audit and feedback program for VPT at our academic medical center. Methods Automated alerts were used to identify patients on VPT at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC)-Montlake (ML) and UWMC-Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) hospitals. Baseline data was collected on patients from 1/20/20-6/2/20: electronic medical records were reviewed for antibiotic indication, duration, renal function, and presence of Infectious Disease (ID) consult. From 6/25/20-10/31/20, all patients on combination therapy without an ID consult were reviewed by the antimicrobial stewardship programs at ML and SCCA, respectively. If intervention was warranted, the ML steward discussed the case with the provider then documented the conversation. The SCCA steward, instead, discussed the case with the team pharmacist. The primary outcome was change in VPT duration post intervention. Secondary outcomes included nephrotoxicity rates and carbapenem escalation. Results Prior to the intervention, 66 ML and 33 SCCA patients were started on the combination compared to 110 ML and 50 SCCA patients post-intervention. Overall, 50% of ML and 14% of SCCA patients were on surgical primary services. Amongst ML patients, there was a decrease in patients on VPT for &gt; 4 days (22 % to 8%), incidence of renal injury (30.3% to 10%), and percentage of ID consults (53.0% to 43.6%). Escalation to a carbapenem was stable (4.5% to 4.5%). In SCCA patients the percentage of patients on VPT for &gt; 4 days decreased slightly (18.2% to 15.2%), incidence of renal injury was stable (18.2% to 18%), percentage of ID consults increased (45.5% to 50.0%), and escalation to a carbapenem was stable (12.1% vs 13.5%). Conclusion Prospective audit and feedback of VPT was associated with a decrease in duration and nephrotoxicity in ML but not SCCA patients. The difference in outcomes could be due to the patient populations, primary services, or intervention process. This study highlights the importance of tailoring interventions even within the same medical system. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-441
Author(s):  
Bridgette L. Kram ◽  
Jennifer M. Schultheis ◽  
Shawn J. Kram ◽  
Christopher E. Cox

Purpose: To evaluate whether a pharmacist-initiated electronic handoff tool can reduce the overall, and potentially inappropriate, hospital discharge prescribing rate of atypical antipsychotics (AAP) initiated in AAP-naive critically ill adults. Methods: This pre–post quality improvement study was initiated in 5 intensive care units (ICUs) at a large academic medical center. An electronic handoff tool (iVent) was utilized in the post-intervention period to enhance pharmacist communication at inpatient transitions of care. Results: Of the 358 included patients, the proportion of hospital survivors with an AAP initiated in the ICU receiving a hospital discharge prescription was not different between the pre- and post-intervention period (28.6% vs 22.2%, P = .12). The proportion of ICU survivors with an AAP continued at the time of ICU transfer to the floor was reduced post-intervention (78.7% vs 66.7%, P = .012). Additionally, the overall proportion of a patient’s hospitalization receiving an AAP was also reduced (50.4% vs 42.8%, P = .008). A multivariate logistic regression demonstrated thatutilization of the electronic handoff tool was not associated with a reduction in hospital discharge prescribing of an AAP (odds ratio [OR]: 0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57-1.65). Conclusions: A pharmacy-initiated electronic handoff tool may reduce the proportion of AAP-naive ICU survivors with an AAP continued at the time of ICU transfer. The handoff tool was not associated with a significant reduction in the discharge prescribing rates of AAPs for hospital survivors, but a clinically meaningful reduction was possibly achieved due to enhanced communication enabled by this tool.


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