We conducted a post hoc analysis of an antibiotic stewardship intervention implemented across our health system’s urgent-care network to determine whether there was a differential impact among patient groups. Respiratory urgent-care antibiotic prescribing decreased for all racial, ethnic, and preferred language groups, but disparities in antibiotic prescribing persisted.

Background: Antibiotic use (AU) data are needed to improve prescribing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). CMS requires AU tracking in LTCFs (effective 2017). Although most LTCFs have limited resources for AU tracking, LTCFs contract with LTCF pharmacies to dispense, monitor, and review medications. The objective of our analysis was to report LTCF antibiotic prescribing and characterize temporal changes from 2013 to 2021. Methods: We estimated annual systemic AU rates using prescription dispenses and resident census data from PharMerica, a LTCF-pharmacy services provider that covers ~20% of LTCFs nationwide, although the number of LTCFs and residents serviced by PharMerica varied over time (Fig. 1). We included LTCFs with ≥4 months of antibiotic dispensing and 12 months of census data. We identified courses by collapsing the same drug dispensed to the same resident within 3 days of the preceding end date. Course duration was calculated as the difference between the end and dispense dates. We reported yearly AU rates as courses per 1,000 residents and days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 resident days from 2013 to 2021. We compared AU rates (percentage change) and antibiotic courses by class and agent (absolute percent difference) between 2013 and 2021. Results: From 2013 to 2021, AU course rates reported as antibiotic courses per 1,000 residents decreased (percentage change, −28%), with a notable increase in 2020 (Fig. 1). However, the median course duration remained the same (Table 1). The AU decline was mostly driven by decreases in fluoroquinolone courses (absolute difference, −10%, most commonly levofloxacin) and macrolide courses (−2%, most commonly azithromycin) (Figs. 2 and 3). Increases in cephalosporin courses (absolute difference, +7%, most commonly cephalexin) and tetracycline courses (+5%, most commonly doxycycline) were also observed (Figs. 2 and 3). During this period, AU DOT rates reported as DOT per 1,000 resident days decreased (percentage change, −13%) (Table 1). Conclusions: The LTCF AU rates, especially for fluoroquinolones, have decreased in recent years with associated shifts in the distribution of antibiotic classes. This finding may be due to CMS stewardship requirements and increased awareness of adverse events, including the FDA fluoroquinolone warnings. The observed increase in 2020 could be secondary to changes in prescribing practices and resident population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Opportunities to improve prescribing in LTCFs include optimizing treatment duration and leveraging LTCF-pharmacy resources to provide stewardship expertise and support AU tracking and reporting.

Disclosures: None

Background: In 2021, the CDC awarded >$100 million to 62 state, local, and territorial health departments (SLTHDs) to expand antibiotic stewardship expertise and implement antibiotic stewardship activities in different healthcare settings. Our objective was to describe SLTHD antibiotic stewardship personnel and activities to characterize the impact of the funding. Methods: SLTHDs submitted performance measures, including quantitative and qualitative responses, describing personnel supporting antibiotic stewardship activities, types of activities, and healthcare facilities and professionals engaged from January through June 2022. A quantitative analysis of performance measures and qualitative thematic analysis of select narrative responses are reported. Results: Most SLTHDs (58 of 62, 94%) submitted performance measures. Among them, 37 (64%) reported identifying an antibiotic stewardship leader or coleader; most were pharmacists (57%) or physicians (38%) with infectious diseases training (68%) (Table 1). Of the remaining STLHDs, 20 reported barriers to identifying a leader or coleader, including hiring process delays and programmatic barriers (Table 2). SLTHDs reported 254 antibiotic stewardship activities; most reported activities involving multiple activity types (44%). Education and communication (eg, providing stewardship expertise) was the most common single activity (30%), followed by antibiotic use tracking and reporting (13%), assessment of antibiotic stewardship implementation (8%), and action and implementation (eg, audit and feedback letters) (4%). The highest number of activities were implemented in multiple healthcare settings (35%), followed by acute care (21%), outpatient (18%), long-term care (17%), and other (9%) (Fig. 1). SLTHDs reported engaging 4,970 healthcare facilities and 15,194 healthcare professionals in antibiotic stewardship activities across healthcare settings, to date, as part of this funding opportunity (Fig. 2). Conclusions: Antibiotic stewardship funding to SLTHDs allowed for increases in capacity and expanded outreach to implement a variety of antibiotic stewardship activities across multiple healthcare settings. Sustaining STLHD antibiotic stewardship activities can help increase engagement and coordination with healthcare facilities, healthcare professionals, and other partners to optimize antibiotic prescribing and patient safety.

Disclosure: None

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common indication for antibiotic prescribing in hospitalized patients. Professional societies’ clinical guidelines recommend specific antibiotics for empiric treatment of CAP based on clinical factors. Manual assessments of appropriateness are time-consuming and are often conducted on a smaller scale. We evaluated empiric antibiotic selection among a large cohort of adults hospitalized with CAP using electronic health records. Methods: In this study, we used the PINC-AI healthcare database to define a cohort of adults hospitalized with CAP from 2013 to 2020. CAP was identified by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnosis codes. Exclusions were applied to identify uncomplicated CAP (Fig. 1). Treatment was only evaluated if a chest radiograph or computerized tomography (CT) scan was charged during the first 2 days of hospitalization, otherwise it was considered an inadequate CAP evaluation. Administrative billing data were used to identify antibiotics charged within the first 2 days of hospitalization. Empiric guideline-recommended treatment was determined based on 2019 CAP guidelines and more recent studies. Patients who received nonrecommended treatment were evaluated for antibiotic allergies in the current hospitalization or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization or infection in the year prior or on admission using International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) diagnosis codes. Results: We identified 4.47 million adult hospitalizations with CAP from 2013 to 2020; 32% (1.43 million) were included in this analysis (Fig. 1). Among discharges with adequate CAP evaluation (1.37 million), 59.7% received recommended antibiotics in the first 2 days of hospitalization, ranging from 62.6% in 2013 to 57.5% in 2019. Overall, 34.8% of our study population received a nonrecommended antibiotic without documentation of an antibiotic allergy or MRSA colonization (2013: 32.5%; 2018: 36.7%) (Fig. 2). Most patients in our study population received >1 antibiotic (92.3%) in the first 2 days of hospitalization. The most common antibiotics among patients receiving recommended treatment were ceftriaxone (74.2% of patients receiving recommended treatment), azithromycin (67.2%), and levofloxacin (31.8%) (Fig. 3a). The most common nonrecommended antibiotics were vancomycin (57.2% of patients receiving nonrecommended treatment), piperacillin-tazobactam (48.1%), and cefepime (25.7%) (Fig. 3b). From 2013 to 2020, cefepime charges consistently increased among CAP patients treated with nonrecommended antibiotics, whereas levofloxacin charges consistently decreased among CAP patients treated with only recommended antibiotics. Conclusions: Approximately one-third of patients with uncomplicated CAP received nonrecommended empiric antibiotics, and from 2013 to 2020 that proportion increased by 9%. Additional strategies are needed to help identify opportunities to optimize antibiotic selection among patients with CAP.

Disclosures: None

Background: The 2014 US National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria aimed to reduce inappropriate inpatient antibiotic use by 20% for monitored conditions, such as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), by 2020. Clinical guidelines recommend treating uncomplicated CAP with a minimum of 5 days of antibiotic therapy. Total length of therapy (LOT) >7 days or >3 days after clinical improvement is rarely necessary. In a previous study estimating LOT in uncomplicated CAP patients, 71% of patients ≥65 years exceeded recommended duration of antibiotics in 2012–2013 (Yi et al, 2018). We evaluated annual trends in LOT in adults ≥65 years hospitalized with uncomplicated CAP from 2013 to 2020. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among patients in the CMS database with a primary diagnosis of bacterial or unspecified pneumonia using International Classification of Diseases 9th and 10th Revision codes, length of stay (LOS) of 2–10 days, discharged home with self-care, and not rehospitalized in the 3 days following discharge. Discharge home was used as a surrogate for clinical improvement. Because inpatient LOT is not available in CMS data, we used linear regression to model inpatient LOT as a function of LOS using data on CAP patients ≥65 years from the PINC AI healthcare database. Postdischarge LOT was based on prescriptions filled following discharge. Total LOT was calculated by summing estimated inpatient LOT and actual postdischarge LOT (Fig. 1). Total LOT >7 days and postdischarge LOT >3 days were considered indicators of likely excessive LOT. We reported trends in the proportion of patients with likely excessive LOT during the study period. Results: From 2013 through 2020, there were 400,928 uncomplicated CAP hospitalizations among patients aged ≥65 years. Patients were more likely to be female (55%), and they had a median age of 76 years and a median LOS of 3 days. The median total LOT decreased from 9.5 days in 2013 to 7.7 days in 2020. The proportion of patients with total LOT >7 days decreased from 68% in 2013 to 50% in 2020 (% change, −27%); the proportion with postdischarge LOT >3 days decreased from 73% in 2013 to 62% in 2020 (% change, −16%) (Fig. 2). Conclusions: Likely excessive total LOT for adults ≥65 years hospitalized with uncomplicated CAP decreased by 27% in 2020, a considerable improvement from 2013. However, the high proportion of patients with likely excessive postdischarge LOT in 2020 (62%) demonstrates the need for antibiotic stewardship to optimize prescribing at hospital discharge.

Disclosures: None

We compared antibiotic prescribing rates for respiratory conditions in a national sample of outpatient visits from 2010 to 2018 between physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs). APCs prescribed antibiotics more frequently than physicians (58% vs 52%), but there were no differences in selection of guideline recommended first-line agents between specialties.

The 2007–2018 National Health Interview Survey data linked with Medicare claims were used to examine older adults’ characteristics and assess their associations with receiving an antibiotic prescription. This analysis shows variation in antibiotic prescribing among adults enrolled in Medicare Part D by race and ethnicity, sex, geography, and health status.

The distributions of antibiotic prescriptions by geography, antibiotic class, and prescriber specialty are similar in the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Part D Prescriber Public Use Files and IQVIA Xponent dataset. Public health organizations and healthcare systems can use these data to track antibiotic use and guide antibiotic stewardship interventions for older adults.

Healthcare disparities and inequities exist in a variety of environments and manifest in diagnostic and therapeutic measures. In this commentary, we highlight our experience examining our organization’s urgent care respiratory encounter antibiotic prescribing practices. We identified differences in prescribing based on several individual characteristics including patient age, race, ethnicity, preferred language, and patient and/or clinician gender. Our approach can serve as an electronic health record (EHR)–based methodology for disparity and inequity audits in other systems and for other conditions.

Background: Inappropriate antibiotic use for SARS-CoV-2 infection has the potential to increase the burden of antibiotic resistance. Brazil experienced spread of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020, resulting in the highest case counts in Latin America, raising concerns of antibiotic overuse. To better understand antibiotic use during the COVID-19 pandemic, we evaluated prescribing changes in antibiotics commonly used for outpatient respiratory infections (amoxicillin-clavulanate, azithromycin, and levofloxacin or moxifloxacin [AALM]) among adults aged ≥20 years in Brazil in 2020 versus 2019. Methods: We analyzed the IQVIA MIDAS medical data set for AALM prescribing by age group (20–39, 40–59, 60–64, 65–74, ≥75 years), comparing Q4 2020 rates to those in Q4 2019. We estimated crude rate ratios and 95% CIs using prescription number as the numerator (assuming Poisson counts) and age-adjusted population as the denominator. We also determined the most common prescribing specialties for each antibiotic across both time points. Results: Compared to Q4 2019, Q4 2020 azithromycin prescribing increased among all ages, ranging from 90.7% (95% CI, 90.0%–91.4%) in those aged 20–39 years to 927.2% (95% CI, 912.9%–941.7%) in those aged 65–74 years (Fig. 1). Amoxicillin-clavulanate prescribing decreased for most ages, ranging from −78.4% (95% CI, −78.7% to −78.1%) in those aged 60–64 years to −25.8% (95% CI, −26.6% to −25.0%) in those aged 65–74 years. Prescribing of levofloxacin or moxifloxacin decreased for most ages, ranging from −39.1% (95% CI, −39.4% to −38.8%) in those aged 20–39 years to −16.9% (95% CI, −18.1% to −15.7%) in those aged 60–64 years. For those aged ≥75 years, prescribing of amoxicillin-clavulanate and levofloxacin or moxifloxacin increased by 13.2% (95% CI, 11.9%–14.5%) and 43.1% (95% CI, 41.7%–44.5%), respectively. In Q4 2019 and Q4 2020, the 2 most common prescribing specialties for azithromycin were general practice (48%–50% of prescriptions) and gynecology (19%–25%). Compared to Q4 2019, infectious disease specialists in Q4 2020 saw the largest decline in percentage of azithromycin prescriptions (10% to 1%) and surgeons saw the largest increase (0% to 7%). General practitioners were also the most common prescribers of the remaining antibiotics (43%–54%), followed by gynecology for levofloxacin or moxifloxacin (25%–29%) and otolaryngology for amoxicillin-clavulanate (14%–20%). Conclusions: Despite decreases in prescribing of amoxicillin-clavulanate and respiratory fluoroquinolones for most adults, azithromycin prescribing increased dramatically across all adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeting inappropriate outpatient antibiotic use in Brazil, particularly azithromycin prescribing among general practitioners, gynecologists, and surgeons, may be high-yield targets for antibiotic stewardship.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Tracking antibiotic use is a core element of antimicrobial stewardship. We developed a set of metrics based on electronic health record data to support an outpatient stewardship initiative to improve management of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Veterans’ Affairs (VA) emergency departments (EDs) and primary care clinics. Because UTI diagnostic codes only capture a portion of genitourinary (GU)-related antibiotic use, a tier-based approach was used to evaluate practices. Methods: Metrics were developed to target practices related to antibiotic prescribing and diagnostic testing (Table 1). GU conditions were divided into 3 categories: tier 1, conditions for which antibiotics are usually or always indicated; tier 2, conditions for which antibiotics are sometimes indicated; and tier 3, conditions for which antibiotics are rarely or never indicated (eg, benign prostatic hypertrophy with symptoms). Patients with visits related to urological procedures, nontarget providers, and concomitant non-GU infections were excluded. Descriptive analyses included calculation of the correlation matrix for the 7 metrics and the construction of box plots to display interfacility variability. Results: Metrics were calculated quarterly for 18 VA medical centers, including affiliated clinics, in a western VA network, from July 2018 to June 2020 (Table 1). Tier 3 GU conditions accounted for 1,276 of 11,840 (11%) of GU-related antibiotic use. Metrics 1 and 6b were strongly correlated with each other and were also positively correlated with metrics 2 and 5 (coefficients > 0.5) (Fig. 1). Substantial interfacility variation was observed (Fig. 2). Conclusions: Stewardship metrics for suspected or documented UTIs can identify opportunities for practice improvement. Broadly capturing GU conditions in addition to UTIs may enhance utility for performance feedback. Antibiotic prescribing for tier 3 GU conditions is analogous to unnecessary antibiotic use for acute, uncomplicated bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infections.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Improving antibiotic use is a key strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance. Here, we have described national outpatient antibiotic prescribing trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared the monthly numbers of prescriptions in 2020–2021 to those from 2019 to describe the impact of the pandemic and to highlight areas for improvement. Methods: We used the IQVIA National Prescription Audit (NPA) data set to identify all antibiotic prescriptions dispensed from US retail pharmacies during January 2019–October 2021. We calculated the percentage change in volume of prescriptions for each month during the pandemic (beginning in March 2020) compared to the baseline (defined as the corresponding month in 2019). Data were characterized by patient age group (0–19 years, 20–64 years, ≥65 years) and antibiotic class and drug, including azithromycin. Results: Antibiotic prescriptions were lower than baseline during March 2020–June 2021. The greatest decrease in antibiotic prescribing volume occurred in May 2020 (40.0% lower than May 2019) (Fig. 1), with the greatest decreases among children 0–19 years of age. However, prescribing was similar to baseline levels in July–August 2021 (Fig. 1). Specifically, azithromycin prescribing exceeded the 2019 baseline by 11.0% in July and further to a 34.5% increase in August 2021 (Fig. 2). Increases in azithromycin prescribing in August 2021 were observed across all age groups: 20–64 years (46.9% above baseline), ≥65 years (25.3% above baseline), and children 0–19 years (7.8% above baseline). Conclusions: Antibiotic prescribing volume was lower during 2020 and the first half of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019. Decreases in outpatient antibiotic prescriptions during the pandemic likely reflect decreased utilization of outpatient healthcare and decreased transmission of non–COVID-19 infections secondary to nonpharmaceutical interventions (eg, masking, social distancing, school closures). However, outpatient antibiotic prescribing levels in general, and azithromycin prescribing in particular, approached or exceeded prepandemic levels in July and August 2021. Ongoing surveillance and sustained outpatient antibiotic stewardship efforts are needed to optimize antibiotic use during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Using a machine-learning model, we examined drivers of antibiotic prescribing for antibiotic-inappropriate acute respiratory illnesses in a large US claims data set. Antibiotics were prescribed in 11% of the 42 million visits in our sample. The model identified outpatient setting type, patient age mix, and state as top drivers of prescribing.

Background: Antibiotics are frequently prescribed in nursing homes, often inappropriately. Data sources are needed to facilitate measurement and reporting of antibiotic use to inform antibiotic stewardship efforts. Previous analyses have shown that the type of nursing-home stay, that is, short stay (<100 days), is a strong predictor of high antibiotic use compared to longer nursing-home stays. The study objective was to compare 2 different data sources, electronic health record (EHR) and long-term care (LTC) pharmacy data, for surveillance of antibiotic use and type of nursing-home stay. Methods: EHR and pharmacy data during 2017 were included from 1,933 and 1,348 US-based nursing homes, respectively. We compared data elements available in each data source for antibiotic use reporting. In each data set, we attempted to describe antibiotic use as the proportion of residents on an antibiotic, days-of-therapy (DOT) per 1,000 resident days (RD), and distribution of antibiotic course duration, overall and at the facility level. Facility proportion of short-stay and long-stay (>100 days) nursing-home residents were calculated using admission dates and census data in the EHR data set and a payor variable in the pharmacy data set (Figure 1). The 2 data sources also provided antibiotic characteristics, including antibiotic class, agent, and route of administration. The deidentified nature of facility data prevented direct comparison of antibiotic use measures between facilities. Results: The EHR and pharmacy data sets contained 381,382 and 326,713 residents, respectively (Table 1). Within the EHR, 51% of residents were prescribed an antibiotic in 2017, at a median rate of 77 DOT per 1,000 RD. In the LTC pharmacy, 46% of residents were prescribed an antibiotic at a median rate of 79 DOT per 1,000 RD (Table 1). Short-stay residents contributed a smaller proportion of total RDs in the EHR relative to the pharmacy cohort (21% vs 50%, respectively). Conclusions: Nursing-home antibiotic use data obtained from EHR and pharmacy vendors can be used for calculating antibiotic use measures, which is important for antibiotic use reporting and facility-level tracking to identify opportunities for improving prescribing practices and provide facility-level benchmarks. Further validation of both data sources in the same facilities is needed to compare antibiotic use rates and to determine the most appropriate proxy for type of nursing-home stay for facility-level risk adjustment of antibiotic use rates.

Funding: No

Disclosures: None

Figure 1.

Table 1.