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Antibiotic stewardship program reduced readmission rates in pediatric hospital
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PHILADELPHIA — Data presented at IDWeek 2014 suggest when antibiotic stewardship program recommendations are followed at a pediatric hospital, children have lower readmission rates.
Jason Newland, MD, of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo., and colleagues evaluated efficacy of an antibiotic stewardship program that recommended 1,240 of 7,049 hospitalized children discontinue their prescribed antibiotic or have doses modified. Physicians had the option to accept or reject the recommendation. The impact of the antibiotic stewardship program was evaluated over a 5-year period.
Jason Newland
“Antimicrobial stewardship programs generally consist of a physician and a pharmacist who oversee, guide and educate clinicians in their institution about the appropriate use of antibiotics. The goal of every stewardship program in the United States is to ensure that every patient who requires an antibiotic receives the right drug, the right dose by the right route and for the right duration of time,” Pranita Tamma, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, said during a press conference.
Of the 1,249 children who received a recommendation, 62% were receiving ceftriaxone/cefotaxime, 11% were receiving vancomycin and 5% were receiving meropenem. Twenty-two percent of children who received a recommendation were diagnosed with pneumonia, and 19% had urinary tract infections.
None of the patients whose physicians adhered to recommendations and who did not have complex chronic conditions were readmitted within 30 days, while 3.5% of patients whose physician did not follow recommendations were readmitted within 30 days.
“In summary, for us, we were obviously excited to see that we didn’t impact length of stay on a negative basis. On a real positive side, we had no readmissions with those that agreed vs. a few with those who disagreed, suggesting the program really has a benefit to patients,” Newland said. — by Amanda Oldt
For more information:
Newland J. Abstract 1217. Presented at: IDWeek 2014; Oct. 8-12; Philadelphia.
Disclosure: Newland reports financial ties with Pfizer and Cubist. Tamma reports financial ties with Pfizer and Merck. All other researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.