Improving Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing: A Toolkit for Healthcare Payers

Most antibiotic prescribing in the United States occurs in the outpatient setting,
and studies show ample opportunity for improvement (1,2). Although antibiotics
are an incredible resource and can save lives, any antibiotic use can cause side
effects and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance which can lead
to antibiotic-resistant infections, associated hospitalizations and poor outcomes,
and increases in healthcare costs.

Improving Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing: A Toolkit for Healthcare Payers provides
a framework for antibiotic stewardship for health payers to support efforts to
improve outpatient antibiotic prescribing. Recognizing that healthcare payers are
leaders in healthcare quality improvement and play a unique role in improving
outpatient antibiotic use, this toolkit contains materials and examples specific for
this audience.

This toolkit highlights:

• the importance of improving outpatient antibiotic prescribing
• how to get started improving outpatient antibiotic prescribing using
  CDC’s Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship, which
  includes commitment, action for policy and practice, tracking and
  reporting, and education and expertise
• metrics for measuring and tracking outpatient antibiotic use and pros and
  cons to their use
• discussion of evidence-based interventions that leverage measurement
  and tracking data to improve antibiotic use, including examples of
  healthcare payer activities promoting outpatient antibiotic stewardship