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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released updated guidance on the recommended features of antibiotic stewardship programs in outpatient settings. The agency says the updates reflect changes in today’s healthcare system environment, particularly with consideration for the increasing number of outpatient practices that are now under larger health system ownership. According to CDC, the new Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Programs builds on its original 2016 framework to reflect the latest evidence that helps guide stewardship efforts for health systems, outpatient centers, and prescribing clinicians. The guides specifically include urgent care as an essential stakeholder in stewardship programs. Downloadable documents include information on core elements of outpatient programs, measurement and tracking approaches, and checklists to monitor activities. Today, nearly two-thirds of outpatient physicians are affiliated with a health system, CDC notes, and stewardship efforts can be led at the system level with accountability that scales across all care settings. The documents present flexible structures that help clinical and operational leaders design antibiotic stewardship programs for any outpatient setting.
Urgent care quality: Stewardship programs are alive and well in urgent care, both in independent practices and in hospital-affiliated centers where urgent care clinicians make prescribing decisions for at least 210 million patients each year. The Urgent Care Association (UCA) offers antibiotic stewardship resources specific to urgent care on the UCA website. It also offers a Commendation Program for antibiotic stewardship under the Commission on Ambulatory and Urgent Care Quality and has ongoing grant support from CDC.
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