Reducing Antibiotic Use in Outpatient Settings

The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated to set national targets for reducing inappropriate antibiotic use in outpatient settings.

Together, these targets will serve as an outline for achieving the reduction goal presented in the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use by 50 percent in outpatient settings by 2020.

In order to help inform and guide the target-setting process, Pew convened a panel of leading antibiotic use experts representing a broad range of medical fields, including internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and a wide variety of other outpatient specialties. The panelists discussed the importance of these targets within the context of specific health conditions and medical settings. Below are links to some of their insights and commentaries.

Additional Resources

Report

Antibiotic Use in Outpatient Settings

Health experts create national targets to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions

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Report

Antibiotic use in outpatient health care settings, such as primary care offices and emergency rooms, represents the majority of dollars spent on antibiotics for human health care in the United States. Beginning in 2015, The Pew Charitable Trusts convened a panel of experts, including representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health and medical experts to analyze current outpatient antibiotic prescribing habits in the United States, determine targets for reducing inappropriate prescribing, and identify steps needed to reach these targets.

Press Releases & Statements

Pew, CDC Release National Targets for Reducing Unnecessary Antibiotic Use

New report examines the state of outpatient antibiotic prescribing in the U.S., and how it can be improved

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Press Releases & Statements

The analysis, conducted in partnership with a panel of leading antibiotic use experts, identifies acute respiratory conditions as key drivers of antibiotic overuse in human health care and establishes data-driven targets for eliminating the approximately 47 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions issued in outpatient facilities across the country every year.

Data Visualization

National Goals for Reducing Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in Outpatient Settings

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Data Visualization

To effectively implement and evaluate stewardship efforts, it is essential to first understand current antibiotic prescribing patterns.

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.