A new report from the nonprofit group the Sepsis Alliance found that while 88% of hospital C-suite leaders think antimicrobial resistance is getting more severe, only 26% graded themselves with an 'A' on their own hospital's efforts to address this.
On top of that, 85% of the same 158 C-suite leaders who were surveyed fear that the rising incidence of antimicrobial resistance may lead to another severe pandemic, according to the report, published Nov. 17.
The factors contributing to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, C-suite leaders feel includes a lack of education and public awareness. However, 88% feel that widespread misuse of antibiotics both by providers and patients is the largest contributing factor to the rise of these infections, according to the report.
"There is still a fair amount of health literacy that the healthcare industry needs to achieve, so many patients have limited interest in antimicrobial resistance reduction," David Burwell, MD, chief quality officer, UPMC in West Central, Pa., stated in the report. "Clinicians need to design and openly communicate treatment plans for illnesses where antibiotics are not effective and could even make things worse."
Hospital executives also feel COVID-19 both worsened the issue while simultaneously presenting opportunities for progress. For instance, 38% noted that they saw an increase in antimicrobial resistant infections following the pandemic and 68% said COVID-19 negatively affected their supply chain, which in turn hindered efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance due to a lack of resources.
The report was funded by a grant from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and research for it was led by healthcare consultancy Sage Growth Partners