Improving antibiotic utilization through an outpatient stewardship initiative

Abstract

Antibiotic prescribing errors at hospital discharge are common. We designed a pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship program to evaluate prescriptions prior to being transmitted to community pharmacies. Drug-related problems were identified in prescriptions for 48 of 149 patients, resulting in 55 interventions. Review at discharge improves outpatient prescribing of antimicrobials.