The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awarded Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality a $16 million contract to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and fight drug-resistant bacteria, according to a recent press release.
“Antibiotics have revolutionized health care and saved millions of lives, so it is critical that we preserve their effectiveness,” Sara Cosgrove, MD, professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in the release. “Improved prescribing in all health care settings can prevent the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and make health care safer for patients.”
During a 5-year period, the Armstrong Institute will collaborate with NORC — a Chicago-based research institute — to identify the best approaches in combating drug-resistant bacteria and improve efforts in prescribing antibiotics across all health care settings nationwide.
Cosgrove and researchers will incorporate use of the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to investigate and develop tools that limit antibiotic overuse while still integrating established Johns Hopkins Hospital best practices. The investigators will help health care personnel, as well as patients and families, better use and understand antibiotics by implementing educational modules and developing tools to show suggested steps in patient care and possible tests to order. — by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.
