Investigation of factors influencing inpatient antibiotic prescribing decisions in the Veterans' Health Administration

Evan T Economos; Cassie Cunningham Goedken; Stacey Hockett Sherlock; Katie J Suda; Matthew Goetz; Erin Balkenende; Emily E Chasco; Aaron M Scherer; Michihiko Goto; Eli N Perencevich; Heather Schacht Reisinger; Daniel J Livorsi; Veterans’ Affairs–Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Practice–Based Research Network (VA-CDC PBRN)

doi:10.1017/ash.2022.230

Investigation of factors influencing inpatient antibiotic prescribing decisions in the Veterans' Health Administration

Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2022 Jun 23;2(1):e99. doi: 10.1017/ash.2022.230. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Evan T Economos¹, Cassie Cunningham Goedken², Stacey Hockett Sherlock^{1

2}, Katie J Suda³, Matthew Goetz^{4

5}, Erin Balkenende^{1

2}, Emily E Chasco⁶, Aaron M Scherer^{1

2}, Michihiko Goto^{1

2}, Eli N Perencevich^{1

2}, Heather Schacht Reisinger^{1

2

6}, Daniel J Livorsi^{1

2}; Veterans’ Affairs–Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Practice–Based Research Network (VA-CDC PBRN)

Affiliations

¹ Uiversity of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa.
² Center for Access & Delivery Research & Evaluation (CADRE), Iowa City Veterans' Affairs (VA) Health Care System, Iowa City, Iowa.
³ Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
⁴ VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California.
⁵ David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
⁶ Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

Abstract

To investigate factors that influence antibiotic prescribing decisions, we interviewed 49 antibiotic stewardship champions and stakeholders across 15 hospitals. We conducted thematic analysis and subcoding of decisional factors. We identified 31 factors that influence antibiotic prescribing decisions. These factors may help stewardship programs identify educational targets and design more effective interventions.