Abstract

BackgroundA core element of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Antimicrobial Stewardship standard for the inpatient setting includes a 48-hour antibiotic time-out (ATO) process to reassess antibiotic indication. We implemented an automated alert in the electronic health record (EHR) that identifies patients that have received >=48hours of antibiotic therapy. The alert requires the clinician (physician or pharmacist) to note an indication for continuation or plan for discontinuation. Within the alert, a dashboard was developed to include relevant patient information (e.g., temperature, white blood cell count, microbiology, etc). We sought to evaluate the impact of the ATO alert on the duration of therapy (DOT) of cefepime (CFP), ceftazidime (CTZ) and vancomycin (VAN), for the treatment of pneumonia (PNA) and urinary tract infections (UTI) for adult and pediatric patients.MethodsThis quasi-experimental, retrospective analysis included adult and pediatric patients that received ≥48 hours of CFP, CTZ, or VAN for UTI or PNA between April 1, 2017 and July 31, 2017 (pre-48H ATO) and October 1, 2018–December 31, 2018 (post-48H ATO). Fields at order-entry to specify an antibiotic indication were not available prior to our EHR interventions. A randomized subset from the Pre-48Hr ATO group was selected for detailed analysis. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the average DOT of CFP/CTZ combined, VAN alone, and the combination of CFP/CTZ/VAN. We also evaluated length of stay (LOS), all-cause inpatient mortality, and 30-day readmissions.ResultsA total of 157 antibiotic orders (n = 94 patients) were evaluated in the pre-48h ATO group, and 2093 antibiotic orders (n = 521 patients) post-48H ATO group. Pre-48H ATO, 85 patients received CFP/CTZ and 72 VAN. Post-48H ATO, 322 patients received CFP/CTZ and 198 VAN. PNA was the most common indication pre- and post-48H ATO. DOT significantly decreased pre- vs. post-48H ATO (Figure 1). LOS was 2 days shorter (P = 0.01) in the post-48H ATO group, mortality and 30-day readmissions was similar between groups (Table 1).ConclusionAverage antibiotic DOT for CFP/CTZ, and VAN significantly decreased following the implementation of the 48H ATO at our medical center. LOS was reduced by 2 days, while mortality and 30-day readmissions were similar before and after. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

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