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A recent post from the Association of American Medical Colleges provides an update on the worldwide issue of antibiotic-resistant infections, including the factors contributing to the problem and some of the methods for solving it. More than 2 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur each year in the United States, leading to 35,000 deaths, and globally, 1.2 million people die from such infections. In the outpatient setting overall, about 10% of visits result in a prescription for an antibiotic, and as many as 30% of those prescriptions may not be necessary, according to public health expert Cindy M. Liu, MD, PhD, MPH, in the post. She also goes on to say that the challenge is magnified specifically for urgent care because of patient pressures on providers to prescribe antibiotics and the fact that urgent care is a go-to site for minor infections and respiratory symptoms from viruses. She says there may be perverse incentives for prescribing because salaries and bonuses for urgent care providers are often tied to patient satisfaction scores.
Everyday issue: An exclusive JUCM analysis of patient charts in 2024 found antibiotic prescriptions (87.9 million) outpaced all other prescriptions written, based on a projected 205 million patient visits. Meanwhile, acute upper respiratory infection, acute pharyngitis, and acute sinusitis were the top 3 diagnosis codes in urgent care. The Urgent Care Association (UCA), the College of Urgent Care Medicine, and the Urgent Care Foundation provide an antibiotic stewardship resource on the UCA website.