Using Technology to Enhance Antimicrobial Stewardship Impact in the Acute Care Setting

Abstract

There are numerous opportunities for antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) to utilize technology to maximize their impact on patient care. Herein we describe different technology platforms, strengths and limitations of each, and provide some examples of their use in clinical settings. Electronic medical record (EMR) upgrades and clinical decision support tools can enhance existing stewardship functions such as audit and feedback, de-escalation, “time-outs” among others. Antimicrobial utilization and resistance data reporting enables a deeper understanding of local trends in the context of benchmarked national data. User-friendly smartphone apps are prescriber-oriented platforms which house stewardship guidelines, antibiograms, and other information which can potentially reach thousands of prescribers. Finally, harnessing social media platforms can increase the visibility of stewardship and infection prevention research. There are multiple options for consuming stewardship technology, from free social media and online resources to costly EMR upgrades and clinical decision support tools. There are multiple benefits to incorporating technology into daily stewardship operations, but costs, design, and implementation challenges must be considered. Stewardship programs should evaluate the strengths and limitations of each type of technology to understand which will best suit their needs and goals.