Frisbie Memorial Hospital’s Physician Practice Services was recently recognized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for partnering with the New England Outpatient Antibiotic Collaboration to successfully implement the CDC’s four Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship program:
- Demonstrates a commitment to the effort
- Implements at least one policy or practice to improve antibiotic prescribing
- Tracks and reports at least one aspect of antibiotic prescribing
- Provides education and expertise to patients and clinicians
The quality improvement initiative, which aims to optimize antimicrobial therapy and improve patient safety, focused specifically on those patients diagnosed with bronchitis, respiratory infections or cough — which are often viral — and who did not have a bacterial diagnosis, such as pneumonia.
For more information about the CDC’s appropriate antibiotic use awareness campaign, visit the Antibiotic Prescribing and Use page.