title: Expanding the role of the infection control professional in the cost-effective use of antibiotics.
abstract: There is a growing demand that health care expenses be contained and that excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics be eliminated. At the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, strategies aimed at controlling drug usage and subsequently reducing costs have been implemented and found to be effective. Mechanisms designed to achieve such goals without diminishing quality of care involve expanding the role of the infection control professional (ICP) while implementing antibiotic control stratagems such as antimicrobial utilization teams, antibiotic order sheets, audits of use, automatic stop orders, computer-assisted management, drug use reviews, educational efforts, formulary practice, restricted drug policies, and target drug monitoring. The infection control professional, as well as other members of the antimicrobial utilization team, contributes to the promotion of the appropriate use of antibiotics in part by identifying individual cases in which antibiotics might be used inappropriately, such as for the treatment of colonization rather than infection or when appropriate microbiologic testing has not been carried out.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and the Department of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Diego, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minooee
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Rickman
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002140:California; D017046:Cost Savings; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004360:Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D016357:Infection Control Practitioners / Q000639:trends*; D007587:Job Description; D008485:Medical Audit / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D008499:Medical Records; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000193:education
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents