Evaluation of an electronic antimicrobial time-out on antimicrobial utilization at a large health system

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2019 Jul;40(7):807-809. doi: 10.1017/ice.2019.105. Epub 2019 May 17.

Abstract

We evaluated the impact of an electronic health record based 72-hour antimicrobial time-out (ATO) on antimicrobial utilization. We observed that 6 hours after the ATO, 21% of empiric antimicrobials were discontinued or de-escalated. There was a significant reduction in the duration of antimicrobial therapy but no impact on overall antimicrobial usage metrics.

MeSH terms

  • Academic Medical Centers
  • Aged
  • Anti-Infective Agents / adverse effects
  • Anti-Infective Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antimicrobial Stewardship*
  • Cross Infection / drug therapy*
  • Drug Utilization / statistics & numerical data*
  • Electronic Health Records
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents