Impact of a pharmacy department–wide transitions-of-care program on inappropriate oral antibiotic prescribing at hospital discharge

Objective: To evaluate oral antibiotic prescribing for common infections at hospital discharge before and after implementation of a pharmacist-driven transitions-of-care (TOC) program. Design: Single-center before-and-after study. Setting: Acute-care, academic, community hospital in Santa Barbara, California. Patients: Eligible adult patients prescribed oral antibiotics at hospital discharge for community-acquired pneumonia, skin and soft-tissue infections, and urinary tract infections between September 2019 and December 2019 (preimplementation period) and between March 2021 and May 2021 (postimplementation period). Intervention: Antimicrobial stewardship-initiated, department-wide, TOC program requiring all clinical pharmacists to review discharge antibiotic prescriptions in real time. Conclusions: A real-time, pharmacist-driven, TOC program for oral antibiotic prescriptions had a significant impact in reducing inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics at hospital discharge for common infections. Incorporating discharge antibiotic prescription review into pharmacist daily workflow may be a sustainable approach to outpatient antimicrobial stewardship in a setting with limited resources.