Antibiotic Stewardship Program
Ask about how a Freedom Pharmacy Antibiotic Stewardship Program can benefit your facility.
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CMS requires all nursing homes to have antibiotic stewardship programs in order to receive Medicare & Medicaid payments.
§483.80(a)(2); F880,F881 & F757
Reasons for implementation:
*CDC estimates that 70% of nursing home residents receive one or more courses of antibiotics during a year.
*40-70% of the antibiotics prescribed may be inappropriate or unnecessary.
*Misuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant organisms, increased adverse drug events, drug interactions and risk of serious diarrheal infections from
Clostridium difficile.
*Increased health care costs are associated with drug therapy, testing, and adverse events
CDC recommends that All acute care hospitals and nursing homes implement antibiotic stewardship programs (ASP) and take steps to improve antibiotic prescribing practices.
https://www.cdc.gov/longtermcare/prevention/antibiotic-stewardship.html
Freedom Pharmacy can help your facility implement and sustain a successful Antibiotic Stewardship Program.
Custom Program Design and Drug Expertise
Freedom pharmacists will meet one-on-one with your team leaders to design a custom program. Each facility is unique on the type of patients it serves.
Freedom Pharmacists are trained in antibiotic stewardship and recommend current IDSA guidelines on treatment of antimicrobial infections.
Infection Control and ASP Meetings
A pharmacist will meet with the team and discuss antibiotic orders using a patient-centered approach. Each member of the team plays a vital role to identify the source of the infection (hospital vs. facility), patient symptoms, physician prescribing practices, and stewardship interventions.
National Healthcare Safety Network and Tracking & Reporting
A pharmacist will assist staff on monthly NHSN reporting by identifying MDROs, reviewing laboratory results of UTIs, and tracking C-diff.
Our pharmacy will provide antibiotic reports to include tracking of antibiotic therapy class, route of administration, diagnosis, dosing, duration of therapy, and antibiotic resistance organisms.
Pharmacy reports will also include stewardship statistics such as point prevalence surveys, antibiotic starts & antibiotic days of therapy.