Background: Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is commonly treated in hospitals and frequently results in antibiotic overuse. Important areas of overuse for CAP include excess treatment duration and unnecessary fluoroquinolone use. Smaller hospitals, including critical access hospitals (CAHs), often have limited resources for antibiotic stewardship compared to larger institutions which impedes stewardship efforts. After 2 years [...]

Background: Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of hospitalization, economic burden and excess antibiotic use in the United States.1,2 Previously, a multidisciplinary group at University of Utah Health launched a clinical decision support triggered CAP pathway in 2017 that was associated with cost savings and decreased duration of antibiotics.3 Based on review of [...]

Background: Hospital antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) play a critical role in minimizing unnecessary antibiotic use and combating antimicrobial resistance. Although various antibiotic stewardship interventions have been described, the feasibility and sustainability of these approaches remain uncertain. Furthermore, some interventions may be challenging for smaller hospitals to implement due to informatics resource limitations. Thus, we aimed [...]

Background: Nearly one-third of laboratory tests in hospitalized patients and up to 60% of routine, repeat lab tests are unnecessary. Unnecessary testing results in excess venipuncture, iatrogenic anemia, patient discomfort, excess costs, wasted lab resources, and a potential cascade of additional tests and interventions. Few academic medical centers, including our institution, have systematic lab stewardship [...]