Use of Antibiotics in Viral Upper Respiratory Infections in the Primary Care Setting

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a global concern to healthcare providers. Estimated deaths caused by antibiotic resistance will be greater than cancer by 2050 (Avent, Fejzic, & van Driel, 2018). Antibiotic stewardship programs have been developed to combat this concern. These programs in outpatient settings are aimed to reduce the number of antibiotics prescribed while improving outcomes, overcoming resistance, and reducing the spread of multi-drug resistant organisms (QIO, 2018). The purpose of this thirteen-week quality improvement project was to implement an antibiotic stewardship program in a rural health department to reduce antibiotic use in viral respiratory infections. The interventions were peer comparison, justified prescribing and patient education. Participants consisted of two providers, two nurses and the director. Project findings were compared to the Healthy People 2020 goal of less than 21% inappropriate use. Overall compliance rates in antibiotic usage were 12.5% post-intervention compared to 18% per-intervention. Antimicrobial-resistance will continue to rise without the use of patient education, self-evaluation, and antibiotic stewardship programs. Reducing antibiotic usage in a primary care clinic can lead to significant cost saving and improved patient outcomes.