Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1090681
16 ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE & STEWARDSHIP 1 in 4 antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, study finds By Mackenzie Bean H ealthcare providers inappropriately prescribe antibiotics 25 percent of the time, according to a study published in The BMJ. For the study, researchers analyzed 91,738 diagnosis codes for 19.2 million privately insured patients using the 2016 Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database. They developed a classification scheme to determine whether each diagnosis code "sometimes," "always," or "never" justified antibiotics. In total, researchers identified 15.4 million outpatient antibiotic prescription fills. Of these, 12.8 percent were appropriate and 23.2 percent were inappropriate. Another 35.5 percent were potentially appropriate, and 28.5 percent were not associated with a diagnosis code. Most inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions were pre- scribed for acute bronchitis, upper respiratory infections and coughing. n How CRISPR can help with antibiotic development By Mackenzie Bean R esearchers developed a way to use the gene-edit- ing tool CRISPR to better understand pathogenic bacteria and their weaknesses, according to a study published in Nature Microbiology. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of California, San Diego collaborated on the study. They created a different form of CRISPR — called Mo- bile-CRISPRi — that sits on DNA instead of cutting it in two. The method allows researchers to better assess how specific antibiotics target bacterial genes to inhibit pathogen growth. "What that means is that you can now do studies on how antibiotics work directly in these pathogens," study author Jason Peters, PhD, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at UW Madison, said in a press release. "That could give us a better clue about how these drugs work in the different organisms and potentially what we can do to make them better." n www.enthermics.com | 1-800-862-9276 Streamline Patient Warming From Admission to Discharge Improve Processes: • Efficiently warm patients from admission to discharge • Warm fluids in a cabinet and keep them warm at the point of use with the space-saving ivNow warmer. Increase Reimbursements: • Reduce SSIs and time spent in the PACU • Improve patient satisfaction surveys & clinical outcomes