A Survey of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Korean Hospitals

Abstract

Background/Aims: We evaluated the status of antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) for physicians. This survey was a follow-up study of data from 2006 and was performed with some new questions about ASPs. Methods: The online survey collected information on infectious diseases from doctors in 84 hospitals. The questions included some about ASPs. The data were analyzed and compared with a previous report. Results: Responses came from 40 hospitals. ASPs existed in 87.5% of these (95.5% in 2006), and a computerized preauthorization system was the most common method (85.0%, 59.1% in 2006). An antimicrobial management team existed in 33 hospitals (82.5%), and the preauthorization systems were mainly implemented by infectious disease doctors (72.5%). Incentives to set up ASPs existed in only 12.5% of hospitals (2.3% in 2006). Conclusions: Computerized preauthorization ASP systems are relatively more common. To improve the uptake of ASPs in each hospital a team approach from the medical institutions is required, along with the cooperation and willingness of those involved.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Community Health Systems Perceived by Physicians and Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study with Gap Analysis

“…In Korea, ASP-trained clinical pharmacists and medical microbiologists are lacking, and thus a pharmacist or medical microbiologist is not usually a core member of an ASP team, as determined in survey reports conducted in Korea [8,13]. The percentage of pharmacists working at medical institutions is 22.1% and 24.1% in Japan and the US, respectively, but about 11.7% in Korea [14].…”

“…During the interviews, ID physicians also expressed that ID consults were sometimes disregarded and were requested late. Unfortunately, this meant that ID consults were often pointless (phy6- [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. ID physicians believed that their roles were limited in the approval of restricted antimicrobial agents.…”

A Survey of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Korea, 2015

“…One answer was accepted from each hospital. The data from similar surveys of ASPs in Korea in 2006 ( 6 ) and 2012 ( 7 ) which contained similar questions with the present survey, targeting the ID specialists, were used for comparison.…”

“…Currently many Korean hospitals employ ASPs. According to two previous surveys in 2006 and 2012, their operation was entirely oriented to preauthorization-of-antibiotics-use programs ( 6 7 ). This study was conducted to examine the changing pattern of ASPs in Korea.…”

Antimicrobial Stewardship with Intravenous to Oral Conversion and Future Directions of Antimicrobial Stewardship

“…British guidelines state that an antimicrobial pharmacist and a medical microbiologist are core members [2]. In Korea, ASP-trained clinical pharmacists and medical microbiologists are lacking and as such, a pharmacist or medical microbiologist is not usually a core member of an ASP team, as determined in the survey report conducted in Korea [6, 7]. An appropriately trained pharmacist dedicated to the ASP is one of the most important aspects in the daily process of implementing ASP strategies.…”