Becker's Hospital Review

31 ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE & STEWARDSHIP Data visualization tool linked to drop in antibiotic therapy By Anuja Vaidya W hen clinicians can use data to compare their antibiotic use with antibiotic use at comparable facilities, their antibiotic use decreases, a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases revealed. Researchers studied the effects of implementing data visualization tools at eight Veterans Affairs inpatient hospitals across the country. The tools included an interactive web-based antibiotic dashboard and access to a standardized antibiotic usage report. The tools were implemented in 2016. The researchers also compared antibiotic use at the facilities that implemented the tools with 118 facilities that did not implement them. They found that facilities that used the tools saw a 2.1 percent decrease in total antibiotic use after the implementation, compared to a 2.5 percent increase in antibiotic use at facilities that did not use the tools. Also, facilities that used the tool also saw a 11.3 percent drop in antibiotics used to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus compared to a 6.6 percent decrease at facilities that did not use tools. n 5 drug-resistant bacteria, fungi an urgent threat, CDC warns By Anuja Vaidya T he CDC has identified five antibiotic- resistant bacteria and fungi that constitute an urgent threat to human health. In November, the CDC released the 2019 antibiotic resistance threats, a list of 18 drug- resistant bacteria and fungi that it considers a threat to human health. e bacteria and fungi were split into three categories based on level of threat. Urgent threats • Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter • Candida auris • Clostridioides difficile • Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae • Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae Serious threats • Drug-resistant Campylobacter • Drug-resistant Candida • ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae • Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci • Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa • Drug-resistant nontyphoidal Salmonella • Drug-resistant Salmonella serotype Typhi • Drug-resistant Shigella • Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus • Drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae • Drug-resistant tuberculosis Concerning threats • Erythromycin-Resistant Group A Streptococcus • Clindamycin-resistant Group B Streptococcus n How this community hospital cut antibiotic use in half By Mackenzie Bean R andolph, Vt.-based Gifford Medical Center achieved a 57 percent decrease in antibiotic use after implementing new protocols from the hospital's Antibiotic Stewardship Committee. In 2018, the community hospital launched a major antibiotic stewardship initiative across its facilities led by the committee. Efforts included: • Implementation of a 72-hour antibiotic timeout period in which pro- viders halt antibiotic use to assess continued necessity and efficacy. • Creation of hospital-specific quick reference guides for clinic and emergency department physicians. • Improved provider education efforts, including status reports during division meetings. • Use of a procalcitonin testing strategy to assess the use of antibiotics in lower respiratory infections. As a result, the hospital has seen a downward trend in providers' antibiotic use. Gifford reported 496 days of antibiotic therapy per 1,000 patient days in April 2018, which fell to just 213 days in April 2019. n

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