Evaluating a Pharmacy-Driven 72-Hour Antibiotic Monitoring Program Implemented in a Community Hospital

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs commonly utilize infectious diseases pharmacists to guide appropriate utilization of broad-spectrum antimicrobials. Strategies should be developed to increase staff pharmacist’s participation in decreasing broad-spectrum antibiotic use. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a pharmacy-driven 72-hour antimicrobial stewardship initiative. Methods: A pharmacy-driven 72-hour antibiotic review policy was implemented at a community hospital. Targeted antibiotics included ertapenem, meropenem, and daptomycin. The hospital’s infectious diseases pharmacist provided policy education to staff pharmacists. All pharmacists provided prospective audit and feedback to physicians. Preimplementation and postimplementation data were collected through a retrospective chart review to analyze the impact of the initiative. Results: There were a total of 570 targeted antibiotic orders for review, of which 155 antibiotic orders met criteria for inclusion; 97 in the preimplementation group and 58 in the postimplementation group. Targeted antibiotic orders decreased postimplementation during the study period. Days of therapy per 1000 patient days decreased between the 2 groups, although this was statistically significant neither for the pooled targeted antibiotics nor for each individual antibiotic. There was a statistically significant increase in the number of appropriately prescribed targeted antibiotics from preimplementation compared to postimplementation (from 35% to 64%, P < .01). Pharmacist interventions documented for patients receiving the targeted antibiotics increased significantly during the intervention period (P < .01). In addition, there was a total of $28 795.96 in cost avoidance based on the difference in antibiotic use between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Implementation of a pharmacy-driven 72-hour broad-spectrum antibiotic review in a large community-based hospital resulted in a reduction in utilization and hospital spending and a significant increase in appropriate use of targeted antibiotics, while also increasing pharmacist engagement with antimicrobial stewardship.