P39 Start smart: improving the quality of empiric antimicrobial prescribing at a tertiary paediatric hospital

2018 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. e2.43-e2
Author(s):  
Michelle Kirrane ◽  
Rob Cunney ◽  
Roisin McNamara ◽  
Ike Okafor
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Drug Effects ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Monday Morning ◽  
Paediatric Hospital ◽  
Antimicrobial Prescribing ◽  
National Quality ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic

Appropriate choice of empiric antibiotic therapy, in line with local guidelines, improves outcome for children with infection, while reducing adverse drug effects, cost, and selection of antimicrobial resistance. Data from national point prevalence surveys showed compliance with local prescribing guidelines at our hospital was suboptimal. A team with representatives from the pharmacy, microbiology and emergency departments collaborated with prescribers to improve the quality of empiric antibiotic prescribing. The project aim was, using the ‘Model for Improvement’, to ensure ≥90% of children admitted via the Emergency Department (ED) and commenced on antibiotic therapy, have a documented indication and a choice of therapy in line with local antimicrobial guidelines.MethodResults of weekly audits of the first ten children admitted via ED and started on antibiotics were fed back to prescribers. Front line ownership techniques were used to develop ideas for change, including; regular antibiotic prescribing discussion at Monday morning handover meeting, antibiotic ‘spot quiz’ for prescribers, updates to prescribing guidelines (along with improved access and promotion of prescribing app), printed ID badge guideline summary cards, reminders and guideline summaries at point of prescribing in ED.Collection of audit data initially proved challenging, but was resolved through a series of rapid PDSA cycles. Initial support from ED consultants and other ED staff facilitated establishment of the project. Presentation of weekly run charts to prescribers fostered considerable support among consultants and non-consultant doctors (NCHDs). We saw a shift in perspective from ‘how is your project going?’ to ‘How are we doing?’.ResultsDocumentation of indication and guideline compliance increased from a median of 30% in December 2014/January 2015 to 100% consistently from February 2015 to the present. It is felt that a change in approach to antimicrobial prescribing is now embedded in our hospital culture as this improvement has remained constant through three NCHD changeovers. A comparison of 2014 Antimicrobial expenditure to 2015 figures shows a reduction in expenditure of €101,078.44.ConclusionThis project has inspired other departments to develop local QIPs and has encouraged the surgical teams to lead their own audits in antimicrobial stewardship. An improvement in other areas of antimicrobial prescribing has also been noted e.g. documentation of review date.The initiative has been shared with other hospitals throughout Ireland via presentations at the National Patient Safety Conference, Antimicrobial Awareness day and the Irish Antimicrobial Pharmacist’s Group meeting. It has also been shared at both European and international conferences. The project was a shortlisted finalist for a national healthcare excellence award and has been rolled out as part of a national quality improvement collaborative.

Antibiotic Prescribing Evaluation in an Outpatient Hemodialysis Clinic

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold J Manley ◽  
Michael A Huke ◽  
Mark A Dykstra ◽  
Angela V Bedenbaugh
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Empiric Therapy ◽  
Prescribing Patterns ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Gram Positive ◽  
Hospital Infection Control ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Gram Negative Organisms

Background Empiric vancomycin treatment is frequently used in hemodialysis (HD) patients because of ease of administration when methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is suspected. Differing rates of MRSA indicate that empiric antibiotic treatment should be based on a center-specific antibiogram. Objective To develop a center-specific antibiogram, evaluate antibiotic prescribing patterns, and determine areas of improvement in infection treatment. Methods The antibiogram was constructed from culture and susceptibility (C&S) data from January through December 1999. Evaluation of prescribing habits was based on 3 criteria: (1) Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines; (2) vancomycin for 1 dose followed by appropriate antibiotic based on C&S results; and (3) C&S obtained with more than 1 dose of antibiotic. Results HD was provided to 161 patients during the study period. Antibiotics were empirically prescribed 104 times in 62 different patients. Cultures were obtained 122 times, and 67 different isolates were identified. Gram-positive organisms and gram-negative organisms accounted for 77.6% and 22.4% of isolates, respectively. Gram-positive organisms were identified as Staphylococcus spp. (53.8%); 17.9% of the staphylococcal isolates were MRSA strains. No isolates of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus were identified. Based on the antibiogram, empiric antibiotic therapy within our center should be 1 dose each of vancomycin and an aminoglycoside. Empiric vancomycin was used 71 times. When criterion I is used, 12 prescriptions (16.9%) were considered appropriate. When criterion II and adjustment for MRSA reported for our center were used, 46 (64.8%) vancomycin prescriptions were considered appropriate. Forty-one patients had more than 1 dose of antibiotic therapy, and 18 (43.9%) of those patients did not have C&S data obtained as prescribed by criterion III. Areas of prescribing improvement include obtaining a C&S in all suspected infections prior to empiric therapy and a more aggressive antibiotic switch based on C&S results. Conclusions Antibiograms can be used to determine appropriate empric antibiotic therapy and identify areas of improvement.

scholarly journals Reducing the use of empiric antibiotic therapy in COVID-19 on hospital admission

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha N. Pettit ◽  
Cynthia T. Nguyen ◽  
Alison K. Lew ◽  
Palak H. Bhagat ◽  
Allison Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Empiric Antibiotics ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Post Intervention Group

Abstract Background Empiric antibiotics for community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) are often prescribed to patients with COVID-19, despite a low reported incidence of co-infections. Stewardship interventions targeted at facilitating appropriate antibiotic prescribing for CABP among COVID-19 patients are needed. We developed a guideline for antibiotic initiation and discontinuation for CABP in COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of this intervention on the duration of empiric CABP antibiotic therapy among patients with COVID-19. Methods This was a single-center, retrospective, quasi-experimental study of adult patients admitted between 3/1/2020 to 4/25/2020 with COVID-19 pneumonia, who were initiated on empiric CABP antibiotics. Patients were excluded if they were initiated on antibiotics > 48 h following admission or if another source of infection was identified. The primary outcome was the duration of antibiotic therapy (DOT) prior to the guideline (March 1 to March27, 2020) and after guideline implementation (March 28 to April 25, 2020). We also evaluated the clinical outcomes (mortality, readmissions, length of stay) among those initiated on empiric CABP antibiotics. Results A total of 506 patients with COVID-19 were evaluated, 102 pre-intervention and 404 post-intervention. Prior to the intervention, 74.5% (n = 76) of patients with COVID-19 received empiric antibiotics compared to only 42% of patients post-intervention (n = 170), p < 0.001. The median DOT in the post-intervention group was 1.3 days shorter (p < 0.001) than the pre-intervention group, and antibiotics directed at atypical bacteria DOT was reduced by 2.8 days (p < 0.001). More patients in the post-intervention group were initiated on antibiotics based on criteria consistent with our guideline (68% versus 87%, p = 0.001). There were no differences between groups in terms of clinical outcomes. Conclusion Following the implementation of a guideline outlining recommendations for initiating and discontinuing antibiotics for CABP among COVID-19 inpatients, we observed a reduction in antibiotic prescribing and DOT. The guideline also resulted in a significant increase in the rate of guideline-congruent empiric antibiotic initiation.

scholarly journals Feasibility of informing syndrome-level empiric antibiotic recommendations using publicly available antibiotic resistance datasets

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Quentin J. Leclerc ◽  
Nichola R. Naylor ◽  
Alexander M. Aiken ◽  
Francesc Coll ◽  
Gwenan M. Knight
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Treatment Needs ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic

Background: Antibiotics are most often prescribed empirically, meaning that they are used to treat infection syndromes prior to identification of the causative bacteria and their susceptibility to antibiotics. The effectiveness of antibiotic therapies is now compromised by the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Guidelines on empiric antibiotic therapy are a key component of effective clinical care for infection syndromes, as treatment needs to be informed by knowledge of likely aetiology and bacterial resistance patterns. Methods: We used open-access antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance datasets, including the newly available ATLAS dataset from Pfizer, to derive a composite index of antibiotic resistance for common infection syndromes. Results: We developed a framework that integrated data on antibiotic prescribing guidelines, aetiology of infections, access to and cost of antibiotics, with antibiotic susceptibilities from global AMR surveillance datasets to create an empirical prescribing index. The results are presented in an interactive web app to allow users to visualise underlying resistance rates to first-line empiric antibiotics for their infection syndromes and countries of interest. Conclusions: We found that whilst an index for empiric antibiotic therapy based on resistance data can technically be created, the ATLAS dataset in its current form can only inform on a limited number of infection syndromes. Other open-access AMR surveillance datasets (ECDC Surveillance Atlas, CDDEP ResistanceMap and WHO GLASS datasets) are largely limited to bacteraemia-derived specimens and cannot directly inform treatment of other infection syndromes. With improving data availability on international rates of AMR and better understanding of infection aetiology, our approach may prove useful for informing empiric prescribing decisions in settings with limited local AMR surveillance data. Syndrome-level resistance could be a more clinically relevant measure of resistance to inform on the appropriateness of empiric antibiotic therapies at the country-level.

scholarly journals Reducing the use of empiric antibiotic therapy in patients on admission to the hospital with COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha N. Pettit ◽  
Cynthia T. Nguyen ◽  
Alison Lew ◽  
Palak Bhagat ◽  
Allison Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Empiric Antibiotics ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Post Intervention Group

Abstract Background: Empiric antibiotics for community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) are often prescribed to patients with COVID-19, despite a low reported incidence of co-infections. Stewardship interventions targeted at facilitating appropriate antibiotic prescribing for CABP among COVID-19 patients are needed. We developed a guideline for antibiotic initiation and discontinuation for CABP in COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of this intervention on the duration of empiric CABP antibiotic therapy among patients with COVID-19. Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective, quasi-experimental study of adult patients admitted between 3/1/2020 to 4/25/2020 with COVID-19 pneumonia, who were initiated on empiric CABP antibiotics. Patients were excluded if they were initiated on antibiotics >48hours following admission or if another infection was identified. The primary outcome was the duration of antibiotic therapy (DOT) prior to the guideline (March 1 to March27, 2020) and after guideline implementation (March 28 to April 25, 2020). We also evaluated the clinical outcomes (mortality, readmissions, length of stay) among those initiated on empiric CABP antibiotics. Results: A total of 506 patients with COVID-19 were evaluated, 102 pre-intervention and 404 post-intervention. Prior to the intervention, 74.5% (n=76) of patients with COVID-19 received empiric antibiotics compared to only 42% of patients post-intervention (n=170), p<0.001. The median DOT in the post-intervention group was 1.3 days shorter (p<0.001) than the pre-intervention group, and atypical antibiotic DOT was reduced by 2.8 days (p<0.001). More patients in the post-intervention group were initiated on antibiotics based on criteria consistent with our guideline (68% versus 87%, p=0.001). There were no differences between groups in terms of clinical outcomes. Conclusion: Following the implementation of a guideline outlining recommendations for initiating and discontinuing antibiotics for CABP among COVID-19 inpatients, we observed a reduction in antibiotic prescribing and DOT. The guideline also resulted in a significant increase in the rate of guideline-congruent empiric antibiotic initiation.

scholarly journals Reducing the use of empiric antibiotic therapy in patients on admission to the hospital with COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha N. Pettit ◽  
Cynthia T. Nguyen ◽  
Alison Lew ◽  
Palak B. Bhagat ◽  
Allison Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Empiric Antibiotics ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Post Intervention Group

Abstract Background: Empiric antibiotics for community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) are often prescribed to patients with COVID-19, despite a low reported incidence of co-infections. Stewardship interventions targeted at facilitating appropriate antibiotic prescribing for CABP among COVID-19 patients are needed. We developed a guideline for antibiotic initiation and discontinuation for CABP in COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of this intervention on the duration of empiric CABP antibiotic therapy among patients with COVID-19.Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective, quasi-experimental study of adult patients admitted between 3/1/2020 to 4/25/2020 with COVID-19 pneumonia, who were initiated on empiric CABP antibiotics. Patients were excluded if they were initiated on antibiotics >48hours following admission or if another infection was identified. The primary outcome was the duration of antibiotic therapy (DOT) prior to the guideline (March 1 to March27, 2020) and after guideline implementation (March 28 to April 25, 2020). We also evaluated the clinical outcomes (mortality, readmissions, length of stay) among those initiated on empiric CABP antibiotics.Results: A total of 506 patients with COVID-19 were evaluated, 102 pre-intervention and 404 post-intervention. Prior to the intervention, 74.5% (n=76) of patients with COVID-19 received empiric antibiotics compared to only 42% of patients post-intervention (n=170), p<0.001. The median DOT in the post-intervention group was 1.3 days shorter (p<0.001) than the pre-intervention group, and atypical antibiotic DOT was reduced by 2.8 days (p<0.001). More patients in the post-intervention group were initiated on antibiotics based on criteria consistent with our guideline (68% versus 87%, p=0.001). There were no differences between groups in terms of clinical outcomes.Conclusion: Following the implementation of a guideline outlining recommendations for initiating and discontinuing antibiotics for CABP among COVID-19 inpatients, we observed a reduction in antibiotic prescribing and DOT. The guideline also resulted in a significant increase in the rate of guideline-congruent empiric antibiotic initiation.

Compliance With ATS-IDSA Guideline Recommendations for Empiric Antibiotic Therapy in Pneumonia

CHEST Journal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 856A
Author(s):  
Kyle W. Bierman ◽  
Lee E. Morrow ◽  
Joshua D. Holweger ◽  
John T. Ratelle ◽  
Mark A. Malesker
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic

The effect of empiric antibiotic therapy on mortality in debilitated patients with dementia

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 813-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Reisfeld ◽  
M. Paul ◽  
B. S. Gottesman ◽  
P. Shitrit ◽  
L. Leibovici ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic

scholarly journals Local audit of empiric antibiotic therapy in bacteremia: A retrospective cohort study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248817
Author(s):  
Anthony D. Bai ◽  
Neal Irfan ◽  
Cheryl Main ◽  
Philippe El-Helou ◽  
Dominik Mertz
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Blood Culture ◽  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Retrospective Cohort Study ◽  
Clinical Pathway ◽  
Retrospective Cohort ◽  
Negative Likelihood Ratio ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Empiric Antibiotic

Background It is unclear if a local audit would be useful in providing guidance on how to improve local practice of empiric antibiotic therapy. We performed an audit of antibiotic therapy in bacteremia to evaluate the proportion and risk factors for inadequate empiric antibiotic coverage. Methods This retrospective cohort study included patients with positive blood cultures across 3 hospitals in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada during October of 2019. Antibiotic therapy was considered empiric if it was administered within 24 hours after blood culture collection. Adequate coverage was defined as when the isolate from blood culture was tested to be susceptible to the empiric antibiotic. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to predict inadequate empiric coverage. Diagnostic accuracy of a clinical pathway based on patient risk factors was compared to clinician’s decision in predicting which bacteria to empirically cover. Results Of 201 bacteremia cases, empiric coverage was inadequate in 56 (27.9%) cases. Risk factors for inadequate empiric coverage included unknown source at initiation of antibiotic therapy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 2.76 95% CI 1.27–6.01, P = 0.010) and prior antibiotic therapy within 90 days (aOR of 2.46 95% CI 1.30–4.74, P = 0.006). A clinical pathway that considered community-associated infection as low risk for Pseudomonas was better at ruling out Pseudomonas bacteremia with a negative likelihood ratio of 0.17 (95% CI 0.03–1.10) compared to clinician’s decision with negative likelihood ratio of 0.34 (95% CI 0.10–1.22). Conclusions An audit of antibiotic therapy in bacteremia is feasible and may provide useful feedback on how to locally improve empiric antibiotic therapy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document