41. Impact of Discharge Antimicrobial Stewardship at an Academic Medical Center

Abstract Background The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates approximately 30% of antimicrobials prescribed in the outpatient setting are unnecessary and up to 50% are inappropriate. Despite this, antimicrobial stewardship (AS) efforts mostly focus on the inpatient setting and limited data describe AS interventions at hospital discharge. Acknowledging the potential for discharge AS, we used our existing resources to review discharge antimicrobial prescriptions sent to our hospital-operated outpatient pharmacy to potentially optimize antimicrobial therapy. Methods Discharge antimicrobial prescriptions sent to our hospital-operated outpatient pharmacy, reviewed by an infectious disease (ID) pharmacist, and recorded into the REDCap® data collection tool from September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021 were evaluated retrospectively. Both adult and pediatric patients were included. The primary outcome was to identify the frequency a DRP was identified by an ID pharmacist while reviewing discharge antimicrobial prescriptions. Secondary outcomes included DRP characterization, percentage of prescriptions with interventions, intervention acceptance rate, and the reduction in antimicrobial days dispensed at discharge when interventions to limit treatment duration were accepted. Results Of the 803 discharge antimicrobial prescriptions reviewed, at least one DRP was identified in 43.1% (346/803). The most frequently identified DRPs pertained to treatment duration, drug selection, and dose selection. The most common intervention categories included different antimicrobial duration, antimicrobial discontinuation, and different dose or frequency. At least one intervention was recommended in 42.8% (344/803) of prescriptions. In total, 438 interventions were made and the acceptance rate was 75.6% (331/438). When interventions to reduce the treatment duration were accepted, the median (interquartile range) number of antimicrobial days decreased from 8 (5 – 10) to 4 (0 – 5.5) days (P < 0.001). Conclusion ID pharmacist review of discharge antimicrobial prescriptions sent to our hospital-operated outpatient pharmacy resulted in identification of DRPs and subsequent interventions in a substantial number of prescriptions. Disclosures Wesley D. Kufel, PharmD, Melinta (Research Grant or Support)Merck (Research Grant or Support)Theratechnologies, Inc. (Advisor or Review Panel member)