Hospitalists can – and should – help curb unnecessary antibiotic use, according to an expert who spoke at HM17.
Nearly three-quarters of patients who have been diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia are receiving antibiotics for longer periods than necessary, either because the severity of their illness doesn’t warrant them or because they do not have pneumonia, according to Valerie M. Vaughn, MD, a research scientist in the division of hospital medicine and the Patient Safety Enhancement Program at Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor.
“As hospitalists, we have a role to play in antibiotic stewardship,” Dr. Vaughn said in this interview recorded at the meeting.