08.21.2017

AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and NORC at The University of Chicago has created a safety program for improving antibiotic use.  The program will help hospitals develop and implement a bundle of interventions designed to improve antibiotic stewardship and antibiotic prescribing practices.

While antibiotics are inarguably helpful to humanity, they also have the potential to cause patient harm, including allergic reactions, Clostridium difficile infections, and antibiotic resistance for society as a whole.

Acute-care hospitals across the United States and Puerto Rico can now register for this 12-month project, which begins in December 2017. Learn about participating by clicking here.  Future cohorts are planned for long-term care facilities (beginning December 2018) and ambulatory and urgent care facilities (December 2019).