Although hospitals have seen a decline in antibiotic resistance and costs, hospitals' compliance to antimicrobial stewardship guidelines is lacking, according to several studies presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
One study showed an antimicrobial stewardship program at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan., led to improved bacteria susceptibility to antibiotics. The most dramatic improvement was the increase in susceptibility of gram-negative bacteria to standard antibiotic therapy. What's more, while antibiotics comprised 22 percent of the yearly pharmacy budget at the start of Wesley Medical Center's program in 1993, the drugs now make up 9-14 percent of the budget each year.
Despite evidence showing U.S. hospitals are prioritizing antimicrobial stewardship, less than a third of hospitals are fully compliant with core and supplemental strategies recommended in the IDSA/SHEA Antimicrobial Stewardship guidelines, suggests a University of Houston-Cardinal Health survey.
Of the 270 U.S. hospitals who completed the survey, all had implemented some components of stewardship, but 184 (68.1 percent) did not meet the definition of fully guideline-compliant. The most common reason for partial compliance was lack of funding and personnel dedicated to the program.
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One study showed an antimicrobial stewardship program at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan., led to improved bacteria susceptibility to antibiotics. The most dramatic improvement was the increase in susceptibility of gram-negative bacteria to standard antibiotic therapy. What's more, while antibiotics comprised 22 percent of the yearly pharmacy budget at the start of Wesley Medical Center's program in 1993, the drugs now make up 9-14 percent of the budget each year.
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Despite evidence showing U.S. hospitals are prioritizing antimicrobial stewardship, less than a third of hospitals are fully compliant with core and supplemental strategies recommended in the IDSA/SHEA Antimicrobial Stewardship guidelines, suggests a University of Houston-Cardinal Health survey.
Of the 270 U.S. hospitals who completed the survey, all had implemented some components of stewardship, but 184 (68.1 percent) did not meet the definition of fully guideline-compliant. The most common reason for partial compliance was lack of funding and personnel dedicated to the program.
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