TY - JOUR
T1 - Antimicrobial stewardship programs in community health systems perceived by physicians and pharmacists
T2 - A qualitative study with gap analysis
AU - Park, Sohyun
AU - Kang, Ji Eun
AU - Choi, Hee Jung
AU - Kim, Chung Jong
AU - Chung, Eun Kyoung
AU - Kim, Sun Ah
AU - Rhie, Sandy Jeong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Tarticle distributed under the terms and conditions of the Cre.
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - Antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) is one of the most important strategies for managing infectious disease treatment and preventing antimicrobial resistance. The successful implementation of ASP in the community health system (CHS) has been challenging. We evaluated perceptions of current ASP, potential setbacks of ASP implementation, and future demands on ASP services among physicians and pharmacists in the CHS. The qualitative research was conducted through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions with 11 physicians and 11 pharmacists. In addition, a quantitative gap analysis was conducted to assess the different awareness and demands on services of ASP and preferred antimicrobial-related problems (ARP). In overall, perceptions of ASP varied by profession. The identified setbacks were unorganized institutional leadership, the undefined roles of healthcare professionals, a lack of reimbursement, the hierarchical structure of the health system, and the labor-intensive working environment of pharmacy services. Although demands for ASP improvement were similar among professionals, they had different preferences in prioritizing each service item of ASP/ARP development and the profession responsible for each service. Continuous administrative and financial investments, understanding ASP contents, ASP-specific information technology, and interdisciplinary collaboration with good communication among healthcare professions are needed to continue the progression of ASP.
AB - Antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) is one of the most important strategies for managing infectious disease treatment and preventing antimicrobial resistance. The successful implementation of ASP in the community health system (CHS) has been challenging. We evaluated perceptions of current ASP, potential setbacks of ASP implementation, and future demands on ASP services among physicians and pharmacists in the CHS. The qualitative research was conducted through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions with 11 physicians and 11 pharmacists. In addition, a quantitative gap analysis was conducted to assess the different awareness and demands on services of ASP and preferred antimicrobial-related problems (ARP). In overall, perceptions of ASP varied by profession. The identified setbacks were unorganized institutional leadership, the undefined roles of healthcare professionals, a lack of reimbursement, the hierarchical structure of the health system, and the labor-intensive working environment of pharmacy services. Although demands for ASP improvement were similar among professionals, they had different preferences in prioritizing each service item of ASP/ARP development and the profession responsible for each service. Continuous administrative and financial investments, understanding ASP contents, ASP-specific information technology, and interdisciplinary collaboration with good communication among healthcare professions are needed to continue the progression of ASP.
KW - Antimicrobial stewardship program
KW - Community health system
KW - Interdisciplinary team
KW - Pharmacist
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076298398&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/antibiotics8040252
DO - 10.3390/antibiotics8040252
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076298398
SN - 2079-6382
VL - 8
JO - Antibiotics
JF - Antibiotics
IS - 4
M1 - 252
ER -