Decrease in Resistance, Antimicrobial Days of Therapy and Cost in Acute Care Hospitals

One hospital in a large health system established a strong Antimicrobial Stewardship program; however, other system hospitals lagged. There was a need to make a system-wide, cultural shift in prescribing patterns and best practices. Bringing in external experts introduced fresh perspectives, removed cross hospital politics and freed staff time to work on additional initiatives, all while decreasing resistance rates and cost.

The ARS Stewardship Program and additional services have been in place over 8 years with steady decreases in cost despite cost of inflation. Moreover, resistance decreased consistently or held constant across the board including resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli.