Working Together: Implementing Interdisciplinary Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs
ACPE activity #204-000-09-442-L01P
1 hour (0.1 CEU) of continuing pharmacy education
Overview
Antimicrobial resistance in hospitals leads to increased morbidity, mortality, hospital lengths of stay, and healthcare costs and is now a major public health crisis. Implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program in a health system can present a challenge. Working with a multidisciplinary team to implement antimicrobial stewardship is recommended in clinical practice guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Clinical pharmacists with infectious diseases training can play key roles in this effort.
This knowledge-based educational activity will outline the relationships between inappropriate antimicrobial use, antimicrobial resistance, and increased morbidity, mortality, hospital length of stay, and healthcare costs. The potential impact of antimicrobial stewardship programs on the emergence and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms also will be discussed. Challenges associated with the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs and examples of successful multidisciplinary approaches to antimicrobial stewardship will be explained. The financial impact of recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement policies for infectious disease-related never events, the implications for pharmacy practice of these policies, and the role of evidence-based strategies in preventing never events and antimicrobial resistance also will be addressed. The audience will be engaged in active learning strategies throughout the presentation.
Faculty
Debra A. Goff, Pharm.D., FCCP
Clinical Associate Professor
The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy
Infectious Diseases Specialist
The Ohio State University Medical Center
Columbus, Ohio
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this knowledge-based educational activity, participants should be able to
- Describe the impact of inappropriate antimicrobial use on antimicrobial resistance, morbidity, mortality, hospital length of stay, and healthcare costs.
- Explain the potential impact of multidisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship programs on the emergence and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms.
- Identify a potential challenge in implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program as well as the advantages of using a multidisciplinary approach in an institutional setting.
- Describe CMS reimbursement policies for two infectious disease-related hospital-acquired conditions ("never events") that CMS considers preventable and the pharmacy practice implications of these policies.
- Discuss the role of the pharmacist in implementing interdisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship programs.