Algorithm-Driven Prompts Effectively Improved Antibiotic Selection For Patients Hospitalized With UTI, Pneumonia, Studies Find

Healio (5/2, Stulpin) reports, “Two studies assessing the use of algorithm-driven prompts meant to improve antibiotic selection for patients hospitalized with pneumonia or UTIs showed the prompts were effective, researchers found.” One study “showed that clinicians using CPOE prompts saw a 28.4% reduction in empiric extended-spectrum days of therapy (rate ratio = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.66-0.78) compared with routine stewardship” for patients with pneumonia. The second study found that “for patients with UTI, clinicians using CPOE prompts saw a 17.4% reduction in empiric extended-spectrum days of therapy (rate ratio = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.77-0.89).” Both studies were published in JAMA.