Pharmacist-led provider education improves antimicrobial discharge prescriptions

A pharmacist-led provider education results in better prescribing patterns for antimicrobial discharge prescriptions, according to a study.

Researchers conducted a retrospective pre- vs postintervention cohort study to determine whether pharmacist-led provider education can enhance patient outcomes by reducing medication-related errors in the emergency department when prescribing antimicrobials at discharge for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), urinary tract infections (UTIs), and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)

Overall, 192 patients in the preintervention period and 181 in the postintervention period were included in the analysis. Of the participants in the preintervention period, 17.7 percent had an SSTI, 47.4 percent had a UTI, and 34.9 percent had CAP. In the postintervention period, 15.5 percent had an SSTI, 51.4 percent had a UTI, and 33.1 percent had CAP.

Following the implementation of pharmacist-led provider education, a significant increase was observed in the number of appropriate antimicrobial discharge prescriptions in the postintervention period (56.7 percent vs 75.5 percent; p=0.008).

Recurrent infections were not statistically different, but a trend toward improvement was noted in the postintervention period (3.9 percent vs 5.7 percent; p=0.473).

“Several strategies described in the literature regarding the role of pharmacist-led educational interventions to healthcare providers, [but] evidence available on the role of education in the emergency department setting on discharge prescriptions is limited,” the researchers said.