Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Core Elements

May 10, 2017

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides the core elements required for both inpatient and outpatient antibiotic (or antimicrobial) stewardship programs. This post will address the elements for outpatient facilities.

CDC Summary of Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Programs

• Commitment: Demonstrate dedication to and accountability for optimizing antibiotic prescribing and patient safety.
• Action for policy and practice: Implement at least one policy or practice to improve antibiotic prescribing, assess whether it is working, and modify as needed.
• Tracking and reporting: Monitor antibiotic prescribing practices and offer regular feedback to clinicians, or have clinicians assess their own antibiotic prescribing practices themselves.
• Education and expertise: Provide educational resources to clinicians and patients on antibiotic prescribing, and ensure access to needed expertise on optimizing antibiotic prescribing.

To get started, you can use this CDC ASP checklist for clinicians, or this CDC ASP checklist for outpatient facilities to help determine where your organization currently stands on antimicrobial stewardship and help you create a plan for your facility.

You can also join our monthly Jump Start Stewardship webinars to help you through the process. See the Montana ABS Collaborative resources webpage for more information.

If you have any questions or run into issues with your antimicrobial stewardship program implementation and would like help, please use the “Leave a Reply” section below, or email Patty Kosednar directly with your questions or comments. We will have one of our subject matter experts get back to you.

Resource Links:

MT ABS Collaborative Resources Page
CDC Inpatient ASP Website
CDC Outpatient ASP Website

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