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Introduction: Antimicrobial stewardship programs are being implemented in health care to reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use, adverse events, Clostridium difficile infection, and antimicrobial resistance. There is no standardized approach to evaluate the impact of these programs., Objective: To use a structured panel process to define quality improvement metrics for evaluating antimicrobial stewardship programs in hospital settings that also have the potential to be used as part of public reporting efforts., Design: A multiphase modified Delphi technique., Setting: Paper-based survey supplemented with a 1-day consensus meeting., Participants: A 10-member expert panel from Canada and the United States was assembled to evaluate indicators for relevance, effectiveness, and the potential to aid quality improvement efforts., Results: There were a total of 5 final metrics selected by the panel: (1) days of therapy per 1000 patient-days; (2) number of patients with specific organisms that are drug resistant; (3) mortality related to antimicrobial-resistant organisms; (4) conservable days of therapy among patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTI), or sepsis and bloodstream infections (BSI); and (5) unplanned hospital readmission within 30 days after discharge from the hospital in which the most responsible diagnosis was one of CAP, SSTI, sepsis or BSI. The first and second indicators were also identified as useful for accountability purposes, such as public reporting., Conclusion: We have successfully identified 2 measures for public reporting purposes and 5 measures that can be used internally in healthcare settings as quality indicators. These indicators can be implemented across diverse healthcare systems to enable ongoing evaluation of antimicrobial stewardship programs and complement efforts for improved patient safety.

Objective: To develop and validate an electronic surveillance tool for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs)., Design: Retrospective cohort study., Setting: 413-bed university-affiliated urban teaching hospital., Methods: An electronic surveillance tool was developed for CAUTI and urinary catheter utilization based on the objective components of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions including fever, urinalysis, and urine culture. Results were compared to manual chart review by an infection preventionist (IP)., Results: During January and February 2010, 204 positive urine cultures (≥10(3) colony-forming units/mL) were identified in 136 patients with indwelling urinary catheters during their hospitalization. The electronic surveillance tool detected 60 CAUTI cases and 7,098 catheter-days, yielding a CAUTI incidence rate of 8.5 per 1,000 catheter-days. Urinary catheter utilization ratios (Foley-days/patient-days) were: acute care units, 0.27 (3,637 of 13,229); intensive care units, 0.77 (3,461 of 4,469); and overall, 0.40 (7,098 of 17,698). In comparison, the IP identified 59 cases by manual review with a sensitivity of 51 of 59 (86.4%), specificity 136 of 145 (93.8%), and negative predictive value of 136 of 144 (94.4%). Fever was present in 54 of 59 (91.5%) of CAUTI cases identified manually, while subjective criteria were documented in only 6 of 59 (10.2%) infections. Agreement between the electronic surveillance and manual IP review was assessed as very good (κ, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.89)., Conclusions: We report an attempt at automating surveillance for CAUTI. With a high negative predictive value, the electronic tool allows for more efficient CAUTI surveillance and facilitates housewide trending of rates and catheter utilization. This approach should be validated in different patient populations.

Objective: To ascertain which components of healthcare worker (HCW) influenza vaccination programs are associated with higher vaccination rates., Design: Survey., Setting: University-affiliated hospitals., Methods: Participating hospitals were surveyed with regard to their institutional HCW influenza vaccination program for the 2007-2008 influenza season. Topics assessed included vaccination adherence and availability, use of declination statements, education methods, accountability, and data reporting. Factors associated with higher vaccination rates were ascertained., Results: Fifty hospitals representing 368,696 HCWs participated in the project. The median vaccination rate was 55.0% (range, 25.6%-80.6%); however, the types of HCWs targeted by vaccination programs varied. Programs with the following components had significantly higher vaccination rates: weekend provision of vaccine (58.8% in those with this feature vs 43.9% in those without; P = .01), train-the-trainer programs (59.5% vs 46.5%; P = .005), report of vaccination rates to administrators (57.2% vs 48.1%; P = .04) or to the board of trustees (63.9% vs 53.4%; P = .01), a letter sent to employees emphasizing the importance of vaccination (59.3% vs 47%; P = .01), and any form of visible leadership support (57.9% vs 36.9%; P = .01). Vaccination rates were not significantly different between facilities that did and those that did not require a signed declination form for HCWs who refused vaccination (56.9% vs 55.1%; P = .68), although the precise content of such statements varied., Conclusions: Vaccination programs that emphasized accountability to the highest levels of the organization, provided weekend access to vaccination, and used train-the-trainer programs had higher vaccination coverage. Of concern, the types of HCWs targeted by vaccination programs differed, and uniform definitions will be essential in the event of public reporting of vaccination rates.

Objective: To describe the development of a guideline for the management of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) based on local microbiologic findings and to evaluate the impact of the guideline on antimicrobial use practices., Design: Retrospective comparison of antimicrobial use practices before and after implementation of the guideline., Setting: Intensive care units at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, a university-affiliated urban teaching hospital., Patients: A total of 819 patients who received mechanical ventilation and who underwent quantitative bronchoscopy between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2005, for suspected VAP., Interventions: Implementation of an evidence-based VAP guideline that focused on the use of quantitative bronchoscopy for diagnosis, administration of empirical antimicrobial therapy based on local microbiologic findings and resistance patterns, tailoring definitive antimicrobial therapy on the basis of culture results, and appropriate duration of therapy., Results: During the baseline period, 168 (46.7%) of 360 patients had quantitative cultures that met the diagnostic criteria for VAP, compared with 216 (47.1%) of 459 patients in the period after the guideline was implemented. The pathogens responsible for VAP remained similar between the 2 periods, except that the prevalence of VAP due to carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter species increased from 1.8% to 15.3% (P<.001), particularly in late-onset VAP. Compared with the baseline period, there was an improvement in antimicrobial use practices after implementation of the guideline: antimicrobial therapy was more frequently tailored on the basis of quantitative culture results (103 [61.3%] of 168 vs 150 [69.4%] of 216 patients; P = .034), there was an increase in the use of appropriate definitive therapy (135 [80.4%] of 168 vs 193 [89.4%] of 216 patients; P = .001), and there was a decrease in the mean duration of therapy (12.0 vs 10.7 days; P = .0014). The all-cause mortality rate was similar in the periods before and after the guideline was implemented (38 [22.6%] of 168 vs 46 [21.3%] of 216 patients; P = .756)., Conclusions: Implementation of a guideline for the management of VAP that incorporated the use of quantitative bronchoscopy, the use of empirical therapy based on local microbiologic findings, tailoring of therapy on the basis of culture results, and use of shortened durations of therapy led to significant improvements in antimicrobial use practices without adversely affecting the all-cause mortality rate.

We report data from an observational benchmarking study of adherence to recommended practices for insertion and maintenance of central venous catheters at a heterogeneous group of academic medical centers. These centers demonstrated a need for significant improvement in implementation and documentation of quality performance measures for the prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections.