Antibiotics save millions of lives each year. Unfortunately, the misuse of antibiotics has led to antimicrobial resistance, which the CDC estimates is causing at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths annually in the United States alone.
Antimicrobial resistance is a public health crisis.
The CDC initially identified core elements of antibiotic stewardship for hospitals and nursing homes. They recently released core elements of outpatient antibiotic stewardship for primary care, emergency departments, outpatient pharmacies, pharmacy-based clinics, dental clinics, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, outpatient specialty and sub-specialty clinics, retail health clinics, urgent care clinics and healthcare systems. The core elements of outpatient antibiotic stewardship include: Commitment, Action for policy and practice, Tracking and reporting, Education and expertise.
The CDC has developed educational tools related to the core elements of antibiotic stewardship. You can access these training via their Web site. There are free CMEs for physicians and CEs for pharmacist available. Access the free CDC trainings.
Antibiotic stewardship has been included in the national Quality Payment Program as an improvement activity; along with many additional quality measures. Many outpatient healthcare providers are already doing at least one of these core elements.
By implementing antibiotic stewardship, clinics will avoid a negative payment adjustment for the performance year 2017. The Great Plains QIN team would like to invite your clinic to partner with us. We will offer technical assistance, resources and educational opportunities (at no cost). The goal will be to spread the principles of antibiotic stewardship with participating clinics to improve prescribing at the point of care.
Access the Antibiotic Stewardship page of our Web site to learn more. You can find a Participation Agreement on the site which outlines expectations and benefits of participation. You can also get connected with a local team member for further inquiries.