Electronic data collection tools for quality improvement: antibiotic utilization project

The project goal is to provide data on patterns of broad-spectrum antibiotic use in a pediatric clinic by utilizing electronic data collection tools. This was carried out as a quality improvement project sponsored by a local health network and one of its affiliated pediatric clinics. Pharmacy data was available to show relative rates of broad-spectrum antibiotic use, but this data was not linked to diagnostic categories or to total patient visits. There was also a lack of data showing the influence of related clinical factors and of shared decision-making between parents and physicians. Data to elucidate these factors was obtained with handheld computers used by physicians and with a web survey tool was used by patients and staff.