Analytics and big data are frequently used buzzwords in the healthcare industry that promise a bright future that would revolutionize patient care and outcomes.
In this article, we will examine how antimicrobial stewards can harness the power of data analytics to gain valuable insights on how to improve antimicrobial use in their organizations today.
One of the most important benefits of analytics is the enablement of program leaders to make informed decisions. In today’s healthcare environment where clinicians are tasked with more activities with less available resources, leaders must optimize the allocation of time and energy to maximize their returns. Data helps leaders identify specific targets in their process and performance improvement efforts and enables the measurement of impact to determine if the interventions are achieving the desired outcomes.
Stewardship key processes and outcome measures
The importance of data is emphasized in the Joint Commission Antimicrobial Stewardship standards, element of performance 20: “The antibiotic stewardship program collects, analyzes, and reports data to hospital leadership and prescribers.” The tracking and report of key process and outcome measures were also identified as key components in the CDC Core Elements of Antimicrobial Stewardship.
The data elements most tracked by antimicrobial stewardship programs can be categorized as either process or outcome measures. Process measures help you track how well you perform tasks associated with your program, whereas outcome measures assess the effect of your interventions. One of the most obvious outcome measures for antimicrobial stewardship programs is antimicrobial use. This was discussed in detail in a previous article of this series. Other example key metrics that may be measured include:
