How Institutional Policies Affect Antimicrobial Stewardship

Krutika Mediwala, PharmD, BCPS, discusses the effects that institutional policies can have on antimicrobial stewardship in health systems. This video was filmed at the ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) 54th Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition in Las Vegas.

Krutika Mediwala, PharmD, BCPS: Institutional policies-wise, it’s very important for us to acknowledge that inpatient stewardship is not going to be the only answer. It has to be a collaborative effort, not only with everyone in their interdisciplinary teams, in the inpatient settings, but also reaching out to our outpatient colleagues, because several times, for example, some of our residents are going to also staff our clinics. So, the education that they are provided with in the practices that they take, they’re going to take with them to these settings as well, and [we're] really trying to provide education with that. So, institutional policies should really include a more global approach to antimicrobial use in patient outcomes.