Pediatric primary care practices cut the rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by nearly half due to an antimicrobial stewardship program, according to a study in Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers examined how antibiotic prescribing for outpatients with acute respiratory tract infections changed after implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program. Eighteen pediatric primary care practices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including a total of 162 clinicians, participated.
The program included a one-hour on-site clinician education session in June 2010 followed by a year of quarterly audits and feedback on prescribing for bacterial and viral ARTIs. The rate of broad-spectrum, or off-guideline, antibiotic prescribing decreased 46.6 percent, from 26.8 percent before the intervention to 14.3 percent a year after.
Among control practices, which did not implement the program, the rate of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing decreased 20.4 percent, from 28.4 percent to 22.6 percent — less than half the percent change of the intervention group.
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Researchers examined how antibiotic prescribing for outpatients with acute respiratory tract infections changed after implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program. Eighteen pediatric primary care practices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including a total of 162 clinicians, participated.
The program included a one-hour on-site clinician education session in June 2010 followed by a year of quarterly audits and feedback on prescribing for bacterial and viral ARTIs. The rate of broad-spectrum, or off-guideline, antibiotic prescribing decreased 46.6 percent, from 26.8 percent before the intervention to 14.3 percent a year after.
Among control practices, which did not implement the program, the rate of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing decreased 20.4 percent, from 28.4 percent to 22.6 percent — less than half the percent change of the intervention group.
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