Academic Detailing to Improve Use of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics at an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Targeted one-on-one education is a practical, effective, and safe method for reducing excessive broad-spectrum antibiotic use.

Effectiveness of Interventions in Reducing Antibiotic Use for Upper Respiratory Infections in Ambulatory Care Practices

“…24 Our study extends these findings to demonstrate that 1-time academic detailing alone (without additional education sessions or feedback on performance) can reduce unnecessary prescribing for acute bronchitis and other upper respiratory infections for which antibiotics are not indicated. The success of educational interventions appears to depend on their intensity, with the most success for multidimensional interventions that include academic detailing, then with mixed results for small group educational sessions and auditing with feedback.…”

Reliability of assessment of adherence to an antimicrobial treatment guideline

“…Most published intervention and observational studies have limited themselves to a predefined focused research problem with a more homogenous group of indications or antimicrobial prescriptions. 5,7,[12][13][14][15]18 Our findings imply that results of such studies cannot be extrapolated to general adherent or appropriate antimicrobial prescribing habits.…”

“…In some of these studies, an infectious disease specialist reviewed medical charts to assess adherence to a guideline. [7][8][9][10][11][12] In other studies, junior clinical or hospital pharmacists, internists or residents, and clinical microbiologists reviewed prescribing appropriateness or adherence. [4][5][6][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] However, low to moderate agreement was found by some authors in assessments.…”

Effect of an Educational Outreach Program on Prescribing Potential Drug-Drug Interactions

“…What is already known about this subject • Solomon et al (2001) examined the efficacy of a targeted oneon-one educational program designed to improve the appropriateness of broad-spectrum antibiotic use. After controlling for baseline prescribing and study interval, the rate of unnecessary use of the 2 target antibiotics (levofloxacin and ceftazidime) was reduced by 41% in the intervention services compared with controls (95% CI, 44%-78%; P < 0.001).…”