Report: Hospitals enhance antibiotics stewardship, continue to reduce MRSA

Hospitals are enhancing their antibiotic stewardship programs to include all core elements recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a report released yesterday by the Department of Health and Human Services on national progress to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Nearly two-thirds of hospital stewardship programs reported using all of the core elements in 2016, up from 46% in 2015, the report notes. Among other progress, U.S. acute care hospitals reduced methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections 13% between 2011 and 2014 and 5% more by 2016, according to the report, released as part of U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week. The AHA’s Physician Leadership Forum released an antibiotic stewardship toolkit in 2014 to help hospitals and health systems enhance their antimicrobial stewardship programs based on the CDC core elements, and in 2017 partnered with CDC on guidance to help small and critical access hospitals implement programs to improve antibiotic prescribing and use and reduce the threat of antibiotic-resistant infections. For more AHA resources to promote appropriate use of medical resources, visit www.aha.org/appropriateuse.