Digitizing Boston Children’s antibiograms for distribution across multiple platforms, with simplified viewing and clinical decision support capabilities. Successfully launched at Boston Children’s in October 2018. 

Project Overview

A multi-disciplinary team from Boston Children’s Hospital is digitizing antiobiograms, to create a platform with easily accessible records that clinicians can leverage to sort and filter antibiogram data.

Antibiogram digitization will ensure accuracy of antibiogram data across platforms, provide easy access to clinicians, and integrate into critical platforms. The Infectious Disease team will also be able to embed their recommendations into this platform, scaling their expertise to all clinicians at the point of care.

Healthcare Context

Joint Commission requirements, as well as proposed CMS conditions of payment, are more frequently requiring prescribers to select an indication and duration at the time of antibiotic ordering. However, current workflows to measure and track these requirements depend upon paper-based processes.

There are multiple national guidelines, institutional algorithms, and collaboratives that produce general consensus for the most common pediatric infections, such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and bloodstream infections. This source of knowledge serves as a backbone for prescribers, pharmacists, and the antibiotic stewardship team at Boston Children’s to adhere to requirements set by the Joint Commission.

The Infectious Disease team at Boston Children’s identifies, at minimum, 3-4 patients per day where a different drug should be prescribed. In addition, approximately 25% of evidence-based guidelines include antibiotic recommendations along a point in the care pathway. Requirements set by the Joint Commission, in addition to the volume of clinical care recommendations provided by the Infectious Disease team and evidence-based guidelines, position the antiogram workflow to be streamlined through a digital platform.

Interested in learning more about Antibiograms?

Send us an email at accelerator@childrens.harvard.edu

TEAM

Dr. Kelly Flett
Antimicrobial Stewardship Program