United Hospital Fund has been collaborating since 2015 with New York-area health care organizations, the Greater New York Hospital Association, the New York State Department of Health, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to foster responsible prescribing of antibiotics, in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. In Phase II of the UHF grant-funded Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Initiative, which wrapped up earlier this year, the seven participating health care institutions and 34 outpatient practices were able to bring down overall antibiotic prescribing rates for upper respiratory infections by 5 percentage points. We sat down with some of our clinical champions to get their perspectives on the outpatient antibiotic stewardship initiative.
The need for the program was laid out by Asif Ansari, MD, regional medical director of group practices at Montefiore Medical Group: “Given the antibiotic resistance that has popped up for different types of infections…we have to acknowledge that we run the risk of not being able to treat a simple infection down the road if we don’t take action.” Dr. Ansari said the focus on outpatient practices was particularly valuable, as many primary care doctors have little time to focus on such issues without support. One of the first initiatives put in place at Montefiore was a practice meeting with clinicians, where they heard from experts about guidelines, best practices, and the need for patient education.
In the linked videos below, participants Luigi Tullo, MD, of MediSys Health Network, Jonathan Arend, MD, of Mt. Sinai Health System, and George Rodriguez, PharmD, of NewYork-Presbyterian Queens discuss the antibiotic stewardship practices they have implemented, lessons learned, and next steps for their institution.
Video links:
More on UHF’s antibiotic stewardship program:
Outpatient Antibiotic Study Published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Project Leads to Drop in Prescribing
Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Learning Session Explores Interventions and Patient-Provider Communication
Antimicrobial Stewardship in Outpatient Facilities
Why UHF is Spearheading Antibiotic Stewardship Efforts
Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit