Antibiotic Stewardship

Antibiotic Awareness Week (November 18–24) is an annual observance that gives organizations the opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of appropriate antibiotic use. This work is especially important because, over the past three years, many facilities reported they saw an increase in antibiotic use across the continuum of care. While antibiotics remain a lifesaving intervention, they must be judicially used due to the risk of significant side effects and the role played in the development of antibiotic resistance.^1,2

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and partners offer tools and resources (see The Flash section below) to help you assess your current antibiotic stewardship program, prioritize antibiotic stewardship opportunities for improvement, and decrease the incidence of antibiotic resistance within your patient population and the communities you serve.

HSAG HQIC's group of experienced, certified, infection preventionists are available to assist if you have any questions or need additional support. You can contact them through your Quality Advisor or by emailing infectionprevention@hsag.com.

Antibiotic Stewardship Rates

Data show that the Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) rate has improved since the baseline period of 2019 and the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia rate has worsened (lower ratios are better).

Visit the HSAG HQIC Quality Improvement and Innovation Portal (QIIP) to view your healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data by selecting the Measure category of HAI–MDRO* and the Measure of C.diff infection rate and MRSA rate.

Source: NHSN, valid as of 09/29/2023. For additional details on measure specifications, please reference the HSAG HQIC Compendium of Measures. The baseline time period is 01/01/2019–12/31/2019 and current time period is 09/01/2022–08/31/2023.

*MDRO = multi-drug resistant organism

New Readmission Data Now Available

Visit HSAG’s QIIP to access your hospital’s Medicare Fee-for-Service performance dashboard, covering the period June 1, 2022–May 31, 2023. Data are updated monthly for a rolling 12-month view.

QualityNet Reporting:

Submit Your 2023 Annual Hospital Contact Information Updates

Accurate contact information for your facility is important to ensure your hospital receives critical QualityNet communications throughout the year from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Please review the Full Memo for steps on updating your facility's contacts using the Hospital Contact Change Form.

If you previously submitted updates, or there are no updates to be made since your hospital’s contact information was provided during the last outreach (October 2022), it is not necessary to submit the Hospital Contact Change Form.

Other helpful links:

Tutorial: How to Complete a Change Form

View your facility's contacts: Provider Contact Lookup

Email the Hospital Contact Change Form with your changes to: QRFormsSubmission@hsag.com. For questions, email QRFormsSubmission@hsag.com or call 844.472.4477.

Care Coordination

Quickinar Series

Continue your care coordination journey for managing avoidable hospital readmissions by registering for these short, 30-minute webinars (quickinars)—offered monthly (starting again in January), through May 2024. Find details and recordings for past presentations on the webpage.

1st Tuesdays. Next: January 9, 2024 (due to holiday) | 2–2:30 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT)

Ensuring Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) Treatment Through the Care Continuum

This webinar series—a collaboration of all Quality Improvement Organizations—provides strategies, interventions, and targeted solutions to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to MOUD treatment and to facilitate the continuity of care through the continuum.

Next: November 17, 2023 | 12 noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Find on-demand quickinar recordings, slides, and podcasts for past HSAG HQIC learning series.

Health Equity Quickinar Series

This series addresses the many facets and criteria for hospitals to meet the new CMS Hospital Commitment to Health Equity Structural Measure and Social Drivers Screening Measures.

Patient/Family Engagement (PFE) Quickinar Series

This series addresses the CMS 5 Metrics for PFE and provides facilities a framework to engage patients and families in their care.

Quality and Safety Quickinar Series

Find resources to assist your quality improvement journey, from planning and preparation to sustaining your organization's gains.

References

¹CDC. Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship. 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/core-elements/index.html

²CDC. U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW). 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/week/index.html

³PSNet. In Conversation With… J. Bryan Sexton, PhD. MA. (PSNet). 2013. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/perspective/conversation-j-bryan-sexton-phd-ma

This material was prepared by Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), a Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor (HQIC) under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. Publication No XS-HQIC-XT-10312023-01