AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use

This ongoing implementation project aims to help providers use the CUSP method to improve the use of antibiotics and reduce antibiotic resistance.

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About This Project

Antibiotics are life-saving drugs when used appropriately. Using antibiotics inappropriately can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and increase the risk of Clostridioides difficile (C.diff), a dangerous gut infection that is becoming more prevalent in health care. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that C.diff caused almost half a million infections and 29,000 deaths within 30 days of initial diagnosis. This project aims to help clinicians in hospitals, doctors offices, and long-term care apply the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) method to improve antibiotic stewardship by selecting the optimal antibiotic regimens, routes of administration, and durations.

Tools, resources, and lessons learned by the facilities that are participating in this 5-year project will be compiled into a toolkit, allowing other facilities to improve antibiotic stewardship.

Project Partners

This project is being conducted through a partnership that brings together subject matter experts and providers in the field. Partners for this project include—

  • Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
  • NORC at the University of Chicago.

For more information about the project, visit https://safetyprogram4antibioticstewardship.org/.

Page last reviewed September 2017
Page originally created March 2017
Internet Citation: AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use. Content last reviewed September 2017. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/tools/antibiotic-stewardship/index.html
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