Does electronic stewardship work?

J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2017 Sep 1;24(5):981-985. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocx024.

Abstract

Faced with national requirements to promote antimicrobial stewardship and reduce drug-resistant infections, community hospitals are challenged to make the best use of existing resources. Eighteen months after building antibiotic decision support into our electronic order platform, high-risk antibiotic use decreased by 83% (P < .001) at our community hospital. Hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infections declined 24% (P = .07).

Keywords: Clostridium difficile infections; antibiotic stewardship; community hospitals; decision support.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Clostridium Infections / prevention & control*
  • Cross Infection / prevention & control*
  • Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted*
  • Drug Utilization / standards*
  • Drug Utilization Review
  • Hospitals, Community
  • Humans
  • Inappropriate Prescribing
  • Massachusetts
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians' / statistics & numerical data
  • Quality Improvement

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents