Peer Comparison of Anti-MRSA Agent Prescription in the Inpatient Setting

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Antimicrobial Stewardship
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Antimicrobial stewardship programs are crucial for combating antibiotic resistance.
• Peer comparison is a recognized strategy for influencing prescriber behavior.
• Standardized metrics are needed to effectively evaluate antibiotic utilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel metric for comparing antibiotic utilization.
• To assess the effectiveness of peer comparison as an antimicrobial stewardship intervention.
• To identify outlier antibiotic prescribing patterns within an infectious diseases service.

Main Methods:

• Development of the "days of therapy per 100 service days" metric.
• Retrospective analysis of antibiotic prescribing data over a 6-month period.
• Comparison of antibiotic utilization among 14 prescribers on the infectious diseases service.

Main Results:

• The new metric successfully highlighted variations in antibiotic use.
• One prescriber outlier was identified for each anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) agent.
• The data suggests potential for targeted interventions based on peer comparison.

Conclusions:

• The "days of therapy per 100 service days" metric is a viable tool for antimicrobial stewardship.
• Peer comparison, facilitated by this metric, can effectively identify areas for antibiotic use optimization.
• Further implementation in inpatient settings may lead to improved antimicrobial prescribing practices.