Improving antibiotic use through collaboration among clinicians, researchers, and Medicaid
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Wattles, Bethany, author Smith, Michael, author
- Contributor(s):
- AcademyHealth, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, DC] : AcademyHealth, [2021]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Anti-Bacterial Agents Antimicrobial Stewardship Medicaid United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Improving antibiotic use is a key strategy for managing the growing public health threat of antimicrobial resistance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are at least 2.8 million cases of resistant infections, resulting in 35,900 deaths annually. Approximately 80-90% of all antibiotic use occurs in the outpatient setting where at least 30% of prescriptions are considered unnecessary. In 2016, the CDC published The Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship, providing a framework for establishing Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASP) in all outpatient settings.4 The Core Elements of outpatient stewardship include: (1) Commitment; (2) Action for policy and practice; (3) Tracking and reporting; and (4) Education and expertise. By implementing the four core elements, outpatient practices will be working towards the ultimate goal of antibiotic stewardship -- to maximize the benefit of antibiotic treatment while minimizing harm to individuals and communities. Despite these recommendations, there remains a lack of widespread implementation of ASP practices in the outpatient setting. Key barriers to appropriate outpatient prescribing and subsequent stewardship efforts include patient demand, time constraints, diagnostic uncertainty and externalized responsibility. While some efforts have been made to implement antibiotic prescribing interventions in large healthcare systems, these efforts are difficult to establish and maintain. This burden can be even more significant for smaller, private practices which lack the clinical and administrative support for implementing and tracking quality improvement efforts. Previous studies suggest that inappropriate prescribing is highest in certain geographic areas and practice settings, highlighting the importance of widespread implementation of stewardship efforts across the outpatient care continuum. Health insurers are uniquely positioned to contribute to outpatient antibiotic stewardship efforts through utilization of valuable health claims data, provider outreach, and incentives. This issue brief describes key strategies that could be employed by collaborations among academic clinicians, researchers, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and Medicaid departments, that could lead to statewide reductions in inappropriate antibiotic use.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (4 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918384881806676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918384881806676