Implementing "time-out" audits to periodically reevaluate antibiotic therapy for patients may lead to a reduction in antibiotic use, cost and rates of Clostridium difficile, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers at McGill University Health Centre in Quebec, Canada, examined the effectiveness of such audits in two internal medicine units at Montreal General Hospital from January 2012 to June 2013.
For the intervention, resident physicians assessed and adjusted antibiotic therapy twice a week using time-outs proposed by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
Comparing uninterrupted antibiotic therapy to the intervention audited therapy, total costs in the units decreased 46 percent, with the majority of the savings related to carbapenems (78 percent).
Additionally, the numbers of C. diff infections fell from 24.2 incidences per 10,000 patient days to 19.6 incidences per 10,000 patient days, a 19 percent decrease.
Researchers concluded using the CDC's time-out intervention appears to have reduced costs and antibiotic use as well as rates of C. diff infections.
"We hope this approach will permit a more widespread implementation of antibiotic auditing and that this will affect future prescribing, turning today's high rates of inappropriate antibiotic use into tomorrow's historical footnote," said Todd Lee, MD, attending physician at MUHC and an author of the study.
More articles on antimicrobial stewardship:
Antimicrobial stewardship program benefits lost once audits discontinued
How technology can bolster antimicrobial stewardship programs
Study: Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy leads to few C. diff infections