An Examination of Stewardship Interventions by Major Category in an Urban Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have been developed to promote proper use of antimicrobials. The primary goals of ASPs are to enhance patient safety and improve quality of care by limiting inappropriate use and optimizing dosing, route, and duration of antimicrobial ther- apy.1 pharmacy budgets, and ASPs can save $200,000$900,000 annually.1,2 shown that computerized surveillance systems result in sig- nificant savings in cost and time.3 Antimicrobials account for upward of 30% of hospital Additionally, randomized clinical trials have One-quarter of nosocomial infections occur in patients in intensive care units, and nearly 70% of infections that occur in the intensive care unit are due to organisms that are resistant to antibiotics.4 ASPs can employ interventions designed to promote appropriate an- timicrobial coverage and reduce antimicrobial selective pres- sure.