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SALT LAKE CITY — Antibiotics treat a wide range of illnesses, but too much use can reduce their effectiveness in the future.
Intermountain Health officials say that urgent care facilities are more likely to prescribe antibiotics when they are not likely to help, leading to antibiotic resistance and dangerous side effects.
A study completed in 38 Intermountain Health urgent care centers in Utah found that an antibiotic stewardship program significantly reduced the overprescription of antibiotics in urgent care centers between July 2018 and June 2019.
The study showed a 15% reduction in antibiotic prescribing rates — which equates to millions of doses — through an antibiotic stewardship initiative designed specifically for outpatient settings.
"Researchers say that when health care systems create and implement a tailored and targeted intervention designed specifically for urgent care facilities, they can be successful in ensuring patients are receiving more appropriate care for their illnesses," a statement from Intermountain Health said.
The study, published on Thursday in JAMA Network Open, was led by researchers at Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health and was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The antibiotic stewardship initiative included things like:
- Educating patients and clinicians.
- Using improved tools for electronic health records.
- Giving clinicians data to compare their antibiotic prescriptions to their peers.
- Using clinic benchmarking dashboards.
- Adding signs and other communications designed for patients.
Dr. Edward Stenehjem, lead investigator of the study, said the results of the study show health care systems can help reduce antibiotic prescription rates in urgent care centers, which is better for patients and the community.
"Antibiotic stewardship can be done — and done well in urgent care settings," he said.
Stenehjem explained that researchers tracked antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory conditions because that is the most common reason for patients to visit an urgent care facility. He said there are high rates of doctors giving inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions to those with diseases like bronchitis, sinusitis and pharyngitis.
The study found antibiotics prescribed for respiratory patients decreased from 48% to 33% over the year the study was run.
The Intermountain statement explained that urgent care facilities across the U.S. have seen patient visits increase by 50% or more recently, and they are beneficial for addressing important medical needs — but compared to other health care facilities, they are often not as careful with antibiotic stewardship.
Dr. Adam Hersh, with U. Health, said the study shows using health systems to approach reducing antibiotic prescriptions is safe and acceptable.
"It's important to note that these benefits have been sustained even after the study ended, indicating that the effects of antibiotic stewardship can be durable over time," Hersh said.
Dr. Lauri Hicks, director of CDC's Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, encouraged other health care systems to implement these approaches that were useful in Utah.
"It will go a long way toward optimizing patient safety and combating antibiotic resistance," Hicks said.
