Antimicrobial stewardship programs can effectively reduce antibiotic use in hospitals, according to a study conducted by Comprehensive Pharmacy Services, a provider of pharmacy support services.
The CPS Antimicrobial Study included 180 hospital facilities across the country that implemented CPS' antimicrobial stewardship pilot program. Researchers examined 45 facilities with antibiotic drug spending exceeding $10 per patient per day as well as 135 facilities with drug spending totaling less than $10 per patient per day.
The study found that the pilot program reduced antibiotic use by 11.4 percent, on average.
CPS' antimicrobial stewardship program addresses all the stewardship requirements and regulations from CMS, CDC and the Joint Commission. The program also requires participating hospitals to establish an interdisciplinary approach that includes pharmacy and report metrics for evaluation.
"By applying our Antimicrobial Stewardship guidelines for a one year period, we realized significant reductions in antibiotic consumption both clinically and financially, even with 3 to 4 percent drug inflation occurring. Every healthcare institution in the country will be looking at programs to reduce their use of antibiotics with the new regulations to be announced in January," said Davey Legendre, regional vice president clinical-infectious diseases, CPS.