Antimicrobial resistance has become a high priority for healthcare systems worldwide due to its negative impact on patient outcomes and high monetary costs. Due to these issues, the United States has produced the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistance Bacteria that aims to help the nation to overcome these challenges. Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) have proven to be effective in slowing the growth of antimicrobial resistance, improving patient outcomes, and saving healthcare systems money. The goal of the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP) Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee is to provide clinicians with the tools they need to be successful in the implementation and optimization of ASPs within their practice setting.
Every November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hosts the U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, formally known as Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, as a one-week observance aimed at raising awareness about antibiotic resistance and appropriate prescribing and use. As of September 2014, the White House announced an Executive Order to combat the increasing rates of antibiotic resistance infections both domestically and internationally as over 2 million people in the U.S. become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics every year. This observance recognizes that antibiotic use is one of the single most important factors leading to the antibiotic resistance around the world, so this observance is collaborated with the European Antibiotic Awareness Day, Australian Antibiotic Awareness Week and Canadian Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Visit the CDC's website to gather more information about the initiative, access materials to share with patients in your practice setting and learn more about how you can continue your antibiotic stewardship efforts.
The Joint Commission recommends that an institution’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Program should have seven main components. These components are referred to as “Core Elements of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program” and are discussed in detail by the CDC. In addition to the originally published Hospital Core Elements, the CDC has also released core elements specifically geared toward small and critical access hospitals.
The CDC has also created recommendations on the formation of an outpatient antimicrobial stewardship program in the long-term care setting. These recommendations can be found in "The Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes."
In 2016 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released The Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship as a framework for antimicrobial stewardship in the outpatient setting. Although the Core Elements are intended for a wide variety of intended audiences, community pharmacies and ambulatory care clinics are specifically listed as focal stewardship practice sites.
In February 2016, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in partnership with the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) published updated guidelines on implementing an inpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Program. When used in conjunction with the CDC Core Elements of a Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Program, these guidelines provide specific details on what to include in your institution’s ASP, as well as, providing details on how to implement your interventions.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has published a “Practical Playbook” on antimicrobial stewardship. This playbook provides extensive detail on the CDC Core Elements of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, as well as, examples on how to implement each core element.
The following websites consist of both local and national organizations that may be helpful when seeking additional antimicrobial stewardship resources.
The following clinicians have been identified as local experts in the field of antimicrobial stewardship and infectious diseases. Through an MSHP initiative to support antimicrobial stewardship, these individual have agreed to serve as mentors for others within Michigan. Please feel free to contact them with questions or concerns you have on antimicrobial stewardship.
Pharmacy Representative
Institution
Reporting to NHSN AUR?
Adam Utley
McLaren Northern Michigan
No
Curtis Collins
St. Joseph Mercy Health System
Yes
Derek VanderHorst
Spectrum Health
Greg Eschenauer
University of Michigan
Nicholas Torney
Munson Medical Center
Rachel Kenny
Henry Ford Hospital
No –Likely by end of 2019
Sara Ogrin
Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital
Rand Sulaiman
Ascension Genesys Health System
Lama Hsaiky
Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn
National The SIDP website has a list of national infectious diseases meetings for clinicians wishing to attend to expand their infectious diseases knowledge base.