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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03245879

Antibiotic Stewardship in Small Hospitals

Core elements of effective antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) have been identified and evidence-based guidelines have been developed for implementation. The majority of the evidence used for these guidelines are from published studies on the effectiveness of ASPs in large academic or large community hospitals. A significant portion of healthcare in the United States, however, takes place in small hospitals. In 2015, 73% of US hospitals had < 200 beds (4,057 hospitals) and accounted for 29% of all US inpatient bed days. Limited studies on the effectiveness of antibiotic stewardship implementation have been performed in hospitals with < 200 beds. Antibiotic use rates and selection patterns in these small hospitals are similar to that of large hospitals and the majority of small hospitals lack formal ASP that meet the CDC's core elements. The objective of this real-world implementation study was to assess the effectiveness of three ASP strategies of escalating intensity designed specifically for small hospitals within a vertically integrated healthcare delivery system.

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Key information

Conditions

Inappropriate Prescribing Anti-bacterial Agents Antibiotic Stewardship

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

About this study

The investigators designed a clustered randomized controlled intervention to evaluate 3 antibiotic stewardship strategies designed for small hospitals. Each hospital was randomized to one of three ASP interventions with increasing levels of intensity and intervention (Programs 1, 2, 3). The investigators felt that clinical equipoise about the effect of ASPs did not exist and randomizing to a no-intervention group was unacceptable. Antibiotic use was compared within each group before and after the intervention. In keeping with other real-world implementation studies, secondary analyses were planned to include an interrupted time series design to evaluate the impact of each strategy. Randomization of hospitals was stratified based on patient volume. Hospital administration and clinical leadership were not blinded to which ASP program they were randomly assigned to, but there were no public announcements. The intervention started March 2014 and ended June 2015.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Intermountain Healthcare acute care hospital with < 200 licensed beds
  • No formal antibiotic stewardship program in place

Exclusion criteria

-All Intermountain Healthcare specialty hospitals, regardless of bed size

Treatment and study plan

Program 1

Behavioral

Program 1 hospitals received a basic curriculum and tools for implementation of basic antibiotic stewardship interventions. Hospitals required an indication for every antibiotic order. A daily email was sent to a designated email account when a patient had been on an antibiotic for >48 hours. Curriculum included implementing antibiotic time-outs, IV to PO conversion, indications, evaluating for bug-drug mismatches, and recommendations on when to call the Infectious Diseases (ID) hotline. A daily antibiotic stewardship check list was created. All materials were provided to all pharmacists and remained on-site. Clinicians had access to an ID telephone hotline to answer clinical questions. Pharmacy directors and hospital leadership were provided a monthly, hospital-specific, antibiotic use dashboard. All pharmacy directors and staff received a monthly newsletter.

Program 2

Behavioral

Program 2 hospitals received all the interventions of Program 1. In addition, Program 2 hospitals received more intense antibiotic stewardship education. Educational topics included audit and feedback, antibiotic de-escalation, the need for antibiotics targeting anaerobic bacteria, antibiotic allergy verification, and antibiotic restrictions. Pharmacists in Program 2 hospitals reviewed patients on vancomycin, piperacillin/tazobactam, imipenem, meropenem, and cefepime. For patients receiving one of these antibiotics, pharmacists reviewed the patients' microbiology data to identify opportunities for antibiotic de-escalation, IV to PO conversion, bug-drug mismatches, and/or indications for calling the ID hotline. Program 2 hospitals also restricted daptomycin, linezolid, imipenem, meropenem, ceftaroline, tigecycline, and all mold active antifungals. In Program 2 hospitals, the local pharmacy staff pre-authorized restricted antibiotics based on defined criteria.

Program 3

Behavioral

Program 3 hospitals received all the interventions of Program 1 and Program 2. In addition, pharmacists in program 3 hospitals reviewed an expanded list of antibiotics for audit and feedback. These antibiotics included: Vancomycin, piperacillin/tazobactam, imipenem, meropenem, cefepime, ertapenem, aminoglycosides, ceftriaxone, and fluoroquinolones. Program 3 hospitals implemented the same antibiotic restrictions as Program 2 but ID pharmacists controlled pre-authorization of restricted antibiotics. In addition, an ID physician reviewed pre-specified positive cultures (e.g. all positive blood cultures, cultures with highly resistant Enterobacteraciae) and contacted providers with recommendations as needed. ID physician review occurred Monday through Friday and alerts were batched daily at 6am.

Primary outcomes

  1. Total antibiotic use

    Time frame: Total antibiotic use during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the antibiotic use during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in total antibiotic use between the baseline and intervention periods while accounting for the cluster randomized design.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Broad spectrum antibiotic use

    Time frame: Broad spectrum antibiotic use during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the broad spectrum antibiotic use during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in broad spectrum antibiotic use between the baseline and intervention periods

  2. Restricted antibiotic use

    Time frame: Restricted antibiotic use during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the restricted antibiotic use during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in restricted antibiotic use between the baseline and intervention periods

  3. 30-day readmission

    Time frame: 30-day readmission rate during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the 30-day readmission rate during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in 30 day readmission rates between the baseline and intervention periods

  4. 30-day mortality

    Time frame: 30-day mortality rate during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the 30-day mortality rate during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in 30 day mortality rates between the baseline and intervention periods

  5. Hospital length of stay

    Time frame: Average hospital length of stay during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the average hospital length of stay during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in hospital length of stay between the baseline and intervention periods

  6. Clostridium difficile

    Time frame: C. difficile rate during the 15 months of Intervention (April 1, 2014 through June 30th 2015) was compared to the C. difficile rate during the 12 month baseline period (Jan 1 through Dec 31 2013).

    Evaluated change in Clostridium difficile incidence between the baseline and intervention periods

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Intermountain Health Care, Inc.

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Impact of Implementing Antibiotic Stewardship Programs in 15 Small Hospitals: A Cluster-Randomized Trial Intervention

Acronym: SCORE

Important dates

Study start
2013
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Aug 10, 2017
Registry last updated
Aug 10, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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