Antimicrobial Stewardship at Transitions of Care

Abstract

Antimicrobial stewardship interventions have historically been siloed in different care settings; recently, a need for stewardship interventions at care transitions has arisen as inappropriate prescribing at care transitions may result in patient harm. There are several care areas that should be considered for optimizing antibiotic prescribing. Interventions can be difficult to implement as they often require the efforts of a multidisciplinary team and are resource intensive. Antimicrobial stewardship programs should prioritize interventions at transitions of care to improve prescribing and patient outcomes.

Keywords: COpAT; Care transitions; Culture follow-up; Hospital at home; OPAT; Transitions of care.