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SHEA recommends five steps to reduce medical overuse
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The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America released a list of five recommendations to improve infection prevention and control and to provide safer care for patients, according to a press release.
The recommendations are part of the ABIM Foundation’s “Choosing Wisely” campaign, and are designed to support conversations between patients and physicians about which treatments are really necessary.
SHAE recommended the following practices:
- stop use of antibiotics after 72 hours in hospitalized patients who show no evidence infection;
- stop use of invasive devices — such as endotracheal tubes, central venous catheters and urinary catheters — in patients who do not require them, and if these devices are required, do not use them longer than is necessary;
- do not perform urinalysis, urine culture, blood culture or C. difficile tests in patients who show no signs or symptoms of infection;
- stop use of antibiotics in patients with recent C. difficile infection who show no “convincing” evidence of requiring antimicrobial therapy; and
- stop use of surgical prophylactic antibiotics after the patient leaves the operating room.
“SHEA’s ‘Choosing Wisely’ list will help frontline medical staff across the country engage their patients in a dialogue about what care is best for them, and what we can do to reduce waste and overuse in our health care system,” Richard J. Barron, MD, president and CEO of the ABIM foundation, said in the release. “Conversations about what care patients truly need is a shared responsibility among all members of the health care team.”
According to the release, over 100 organizations were involved in the creation of the list, and the campaign has now identified more than 400 overused tests and procedures that need to be limited.
Anthony Harris
“Fighting antibiotic resistance while improving the quality of care requires an all hands on deck approach,” Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, president of the SHEA board of trustees, said in the release. “We all have a role to play in making health care safer and using antibiotics appropriately. By joining this effort, we hope to start meaningful conversations between health care providers and patients.”