Antibiotic resistance and development of antibiotic stewardship programs are ongoing issues for healthcare providers. The annual  “Get Smart about Antibiotics Week” developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other partners highlights events, educational resources, and a spotlight for organizations to coordinate strategies around stewardship programs and the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Press Release […]

Daily monitoring of patients receiving antimicrobial injections targeting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is associated with improved clinical outcomes, according to a study published online in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. The study included daily reviews of prescriptions and the review occurred within 24 hours after initiation of therapy. The researchers found that implementation of daily review correlated […]

The American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, in partnership with the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), released a list of five practices to avoid for better infection prevention and control and safer care as part of the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign. The recommendations can support conversations between patients and physicians about what care […]

Martin J. Blaser, MD, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the human microbiome – and he proved it last year with the publication of his critically acclaimed, best-selling book, “Missing Microbes,” which helped lay audiences better understand the microbiome’s often complex make-up and the important role it plays in human health.Now, Blaser will […]

The Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes adapts the CDC Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship into practical ways to initiate or expand antibiotic stewardship activities in nursing homes. Nursing homes are encouraged to work in a step-wise fashion, implementing one or two activities to start and gradually adding new strategies from each […]

The White House Conference on Aging announced new changes that would make major changes to improve the care and safety of the nearly 1.5 million residents in the more than 15,000 long-term care facilities or nursing homes that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. If finalized, unnecessary hospital readmissions and infections would be reduced, […]