Targeted Outpatient Fluoroquinolone Intervention utilizing an Integrated Electronic Health Record in the Bureau of Prisons

Abstract

Background: Fluoroquinolones are the perfect target for antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) due to their broad-spectrum nature, poor safety profile, and frequent misuse. In April 2019, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) created a national antimicrobial stewardship clinical pharmacist consultant program. One of the program’s main initiatives was to screen active fluoroquinolone prescriptions for appropriateness and work with providers to tailor therapy as needed. Since July 2019, pharmacist consultants have utilized a singular system-wide electronic health record (EHR) to conduct fluoroquinolone prospective audit and feedback targeting all BOP sites across the country. The objective was to assess the national impact of prospective audit and feedback on outpatient fluoroquinolone prescriptions utilizing pharmacist consultants and an integrated EHR. Method: Reviews were conducted in a federal correctional setting including 122 BOP sites with an average daily population of 167,308 inmates. The ASP consisted of 7 pharmacists, each assigned a region across the country. Consultant pharmacists were in charge of conducting daily fluoroquinolone reviews within 72 hours of the prescription being written, utilizing a singular system-wide EHR to gain remote access to newly prescribed prescriptions along with all other pertinent information (ie, clinical notes, patient profiles, laboratory, and radiology). Interventions were sent via e-mail. Total fluoroquinolone prescriptions per 1,000 inmates during the preintervention period (July 1, 2018, to September 30, 2018) were compared to the postintervention period (July 1, 2019, to September 30, 2019), after the development of the clinical consultant program. Data were also collected during the 3-month postintervention period to include total fluoroquinolone prescriptions reviewed, total recommendations sent, percentage of recommendations accepted, and intervention types. Results: In total, 833 fluoroquinolone prescriptions of 1, 264 total prescriptions written (66%)were reviewed over the 3-month postintervention period. In total,192 interventions were recommended (23%). Of the interventions recommended, 65 (34%) were accepted. The most common intervention was to stop therapy (41%), followed by changing antibiotic (37%), and shorten therapy duration (8%). Total outpatient fluoroquinolone prescriptions decreased by 1.5 prescriptions per 1,000 patients after the intervention. Conclusions: Pharmacist-driven prospective audit and feedback on a national scale utilizing a singular system-wide EHR resulted in an overall decrease in outpatient fluoroquinolone prescriptions over short period of time.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None