The Skokie, Ill.-based Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care created a new toolkit to enhance antibiotic stewardship programs around combating superbugs.
Here's what you need to know.
1. AAAHC designed the toolkit to evaluate existing stewardship policies and practices to help organizations ensure good patient outcomes.
2. The antibiotic resistance found in superbugs is "a critical threat to public health," a threat Vice President and Senior Director of the AAAHC Institute Naomi Kuznets, PhD, believes proper stewardship can combat.
3. The AAAHC toolkit centers around four key areas of stewardship activity:
- Commitment: Dedication to and accountability for optimizing antibiotic stewardship activities
- Action: Implementing policies and practices to improve antibiotic prescribing
- Tracking and Reporting: Documenting facility monitoring practices for antibiotic prescribing
- Education and Expertise: Supplementing resources for clinicians and patients on evidence-based antibiotic prescribing
4. The toolkit is outpatient facility-facing, and is available here for $10.