Pharmacist-led urine culture follow-ups in a rural emergency department

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common indication for antibiotic prescriptions in the outpatient setting. With rising antimicrobial resistance, eliminating unnecessary antibiotics is critical. Previous research has shown that pharmacist-led antimicrobial stewardship in the emergency department (ED) setting can reduce the number of unnecessary antibiotics and increase appropriate antibiotic prescribing. By expanding the scope of ED pharmacists to include antimicrobial stewardship initiatives, rural EDs can better justify pharmacy involvement in the ED.

To determine whether pharmacist review of urine cultures in a rural ED leads to an improvement in antimicrobial stewardship outcomes.

This was a hybrid, quality improvement study conducted in a 12-bed, rural hospital ED. Data were collected from October 15, 2021, through April 15, 2022, 3 months before (preintervention) and after (postintervention) pharmacists assumed the responsibility for reviewing ED urine cultures from the nursing staff. For each urine culture, a pharmacist conducted a patient chart review and determined whether an intervention was required. If action was required, the pharmacist provided a recommendation to an ED provider and subsequently implemented the agreed on action. Primary study outcomes included (1) the number of discontinued antibiotics when there was no bacterial infection cultured and (2) when changing antibiotics on the basis of culture results, whether the antibiotic chosen matched current guidelines. Primary postintervention outcomes were compared with preintervention ones using the Fisher exact tests.

Pharmacist review in the postintervention period led to a statistically significant higher number of discontinued antibiotics than in the preintervention period (20/65 vs. 0/71, P < 0.001). The antibiotics chosen when altering therapy on the basis of culture results did not differ statistically significant between the pre- and postintervention periods (P > 0.999).

Pharmacist review of urine cultures in a rural ED can improve antimicrobial stewardship outcomes by decreasing unnecessary antibiotic use for the treatment of UTIs.