Effects of a Collaborative, Community Hospital Network for Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Implementation.

BACKGROUND Individual hospitals may lack expertise, data resources, and educational tools to support antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP). METHODS We established a collaborative, consultative network focused on hospital ASP implementation. Services included on-site expert consultation, shared database for routine feedback and benchmarking, and educational programs. We performed a retrospective, longitudinal analysis of antimicrobial use (AU) in 17 hospitals that participated for at least 36 months during 2013-2018. ASP practice was assessed using structured interviews. Segmented regression estimated change in facility-wide AU after a 1-year assessment, planning, and intervention initiation period. Year one AU trend (1 to 12 months) and AU trend following the first year (13 to 42 months) were compared using relative rates (RR). Monthly AU rates were measured in days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 patient days for overall AU, specific agents, and agent groups. RESULTS Analyzed data included over 2.5 million DOT and almost 3 million patient-days. Participating hospitals increased ASP-focused activities over time. Network-wide overall AU trends were flat during the first 12 months after network entry but decreased thereafter (RR month 42 vs month 13, 0.95, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.91-0.99.) Large variation was seen in hospital-specific AU. Fluoroquinolone use was stable during year one, then dropped significantly. Other agent groups demonstrated a non-significant downward trajectory after year one. CONCLUSIONS Network hospitals increased ASP activities and demonstrated decline in AU over a 42-month period. A collaborative, consultative network is a unique model in which hospitals can access ASP implementation expertise to support long-term program growth.