Overview

UW Health is an established leader in antimicrobial stewardship. Our AMS program is:

  • One of only a few academic centers in the nation to be recognized by the Infection Diseases Society of America as a Center of Excellence for Antimicrobial Stewardship

  • Nationally recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and The Joint Commission for leadership, education and achievement of the seven core elements of hospital stewardship

     

Our AMS program provides a collaborative, interdisciplinary system for the optimization of antimicrobial use to improve drug selection, slow the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, reduce antimicrobial expenditures and improve adult and pediatric patient outcomes within our hospitals, emergency departments and ambulatory settings and to partner with regional hospitals and health systems.

Learn more

Learn about our program for hospitals and health systems

UW Health's interdisciplinary AMS team collaborates with hospitals and health systems to optimize antimicrobial utilization through access to ID-trained resources which improve data analysis, optimize the electronic medical record, provide education to reduce ineffective, suboptimal or unnecessary use for hospitalized and ambulatory patients. Ultimately, optimized antimicrobial utilization results in improved patient outcomes, reduced adverse events (including hospital-acquired infections) and mitigation of antimicrobial resistance emergence.

Stewardship programs aim to continuously improve patient care by mitigating adverse reaction risk and encouraging optimal antimicrobial choice. Improving antimicrobial safety and efficacy results in sustainable fiscal gains. In 2017, The Joint Commission required antimicrobial services for hospitals. Beginning in 2020, The Joint Commission will require ambulatory stewardship services for clinics. Maintaining a comprehensive stewardship program will ensure you remain accreditation compliant while improving patient care.

Our comprehensive AMS services can be tailored to the needs of each regional partner hospital or health system to identify opportunities to improve patient outcomes associated with antimicrobial use and achieve compliance with accreditation standards, including CMS conditions of participation and fulfillment of the CDC 7 core elements of hospital antimicrobial stewardship.

Elements of our program

  1. Leadership Commitment

  2. Accountability

  3. Drug Expertise

  4. Action

  5. Tracking

  6. Reporting

  7. Education

  1. Customize levels of service 

  2. Improve patient safety, quality of care

  3. Optimize clinical outcomes

  4. Improve diagnostics

  5. Minimize toxicities and ADEs

  6. Mitigate antimicrobial resistance

  7. Reduce healthcare costs

  8. Compliance with accreditation agencies like The Joint Commission

  • UW Health was one of the first hospitals in the country to develop an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program service in 2002 and is an established leader in antimicrobial stewardship. This timeline shows our antimicrobial stewardship program's milestones and interventions.

  • UW Health has proven results in outreach stewardship, including significantly reducing broad-spectrum antibiotic use and length of hospital stay.

  • UW Health has successful guideline adaptation and implementation, provider education with significant provider satisfaction

  • 2018: Established a comprehensive ambulatory stewardship committee

  • 2017: UW Health is nationally recognized by the Centers for Disease Control, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists and The Joint Commission.

  • 2017: The Joint Commission antimicrobial stewardship standard is in effect

  • 2014: CDC recommends hospitals implement AMS programs to improve antibiotic use

  • 2002: UW Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Established

Levels of service

Antimicrobial stewardship program services

UW Health’s AMS team offers a collaborative, interdisciplinary team approach to optimize usage of antibiotics. Three levels of service are available to meet the unique needs of each AMS partner.

Meet our team

Antimicrobial stewardship program team

Our comprehensive, multidisciplinary Antimicrobial Stewardship Program combines the expertise of infectious disease-trained pharmacists and providers from the Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Pharmacy, Department of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, Medication Use Strategy and Innovation.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Program team

Derrick Chen, MD
  • Ambulatory

  • Emergency Department

  • Inpatient

  • Pediatric

Testimonials

Our clients see the results of our comprehensive, full-service stewardship services.

IDSA Antimicrobial Stewardship Excellence logo

Ultimately the process has allowed us to have a much more robust Antimicrobial Stewardship at our facility than we could have provided on our own. We were also given kudos from the Joint Commission on our process during a recent survey.

PharmD
UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital

Literature and guidelines

Stewardship literature and guidelines

  • Center for Clinical Knowledge Management (CCKM) evaluates and organizes evidence to drive clinical decisions that promote efficiency, consistency, and quality throughout UW Health. Reference materials for health professionals can be accessed through the CCKM webpage.

  •  Antimicrobial Stewardship Annual Reports