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New ‘Get Smart for Healthcare’ program aims to improve antimicrobial stewardship
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Building on the success of the existing “Get Smart” program, the CDC is launching a new antimicrobial stewardship initiative — “Get Smart for Healthcare” — in hopes of advancing adherence to recommendations that address the problem of antimicrobial resistance, according to speakers here.
Neil Fishman, MD, current president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology (SHEA), said that CDC officials are collaborating with physicians and hospitals about the best ways to implement the campaign, which aims to clearly define the roles of physicians, pharmacists and other health care workers in antimicrobial stewardship initiatives.
“The physician as a [stewardship program’s] team leader can bring the conceptualization, communication and coercion needed for a well-developed program,” said Christopher A. Ohl, MD, of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the presentation.
A physician works closely with the medical staff and has an established rapport with a hospital’s personnel, according to Ohl, and has a unique understanding of the challenges involved in properly using antimicrobials.
Pharmacists are also core members of stewardship teams, said Edina Avdic, PharmD, MBA, of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Pharmacists often regulate and monitor antibiotic use within a hospital.
The “Get Smart for Healthcare” initiative’s goal is to synthesize these roles and effectively reduce antimicrobial resistance, according to Arjun Srinivasan, MD, of the CDC.
“The primary factors that can help improve in-patient antimicrobial use are timely antibiotic management; appropriate selection, administration and de-escalation; data monitoring and transparency; and available expertise at the point-of-care,” said Srinivasan.
Srinivasan noted that the CDC is collaborating with Institute for Healthcare Improvement and other organizations, and they continue to look for feedback to further improve the program.
Presented at: Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections; March 18-22, 2010; Atlanta.