Implementing Antibiotic Stewardship in an Ambulatory Urgent Care Setting

Abstract

Antibiotic prescriptions for the treatment of common viral infections such as acute uncomplicated bronchitis are discouraged because they contribute to both avoidable adverse events and the development of bacterial resistance. A quality improvement project consisting of a Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle that evaluated and reported the antibiotic prescription rate for the treatment of acute uncomplicated bronchitis was implemented in an ambulatory, urgent care setting. Appropriate antibiotic stewardship was validated by having an antibiotic prescription rate that closely follows a nationally recognized expert consensus recommended level of 10% or less for an otherwise healthy population of adults 18-64 years of age. Antibiotic prescribing rates was based on a comparison of retrospective and prospective data collected from chart audits. Prescribing rates were compared to nationally accepted standards and were measured through descriptive statistics, paired sample t-test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank, Kruskal-Wallis, and Friedman Test analysis.