Did You Know? The Urgent Care Association, Urgent Care Foundation, and the College of Urgent Care Medicine have been working with the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center (ARAC) at George Washington University since 2016.
In collaboration with the Urgent Care Association (UCA), the College of Urgent Care Medicine® (CUCM) is dedicated to working towards the goal of promoting appropriate antibiotic prescribing by developing tools for patient education, training and education of both clinical and non-clinical staff, clinical decision support tools, data collection, evidence-based antibiotic stewardship practices and research.
Below you will find several resources to assist in antibiotic stewardship and patient education, along with information regarding the stewardship-focused initiatives of UCA, CUCM, and the Urgent Care Foundation (UCF).
What is Antibiotic Stewardship?
Antibiotic Stewardship is more than knowing when to prescribe and when not to prescribe - it involves having processes in place to ensure that antibiotics are prescribed when medically appropriate, to the right patient, for the right diagnosis, and for the right duration. Being an antibiotic steward also involves educating patients and the community about the role each of us can play in reducing risk o antimicrobial resistance.
What is Antimicrobial Resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance is a serious public health concern that affects patient care, safety, and healthcare costs, and it is driven by the inappropriate use of antibiotics in humans, animals and agriculture. Leading medical and public health organizations from around the world, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), have warned of a "post-antibiotic" era in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again become deadly. The CDC and WHO consider antimicrobial resistance to be an increasingly emergent threat to national and global health with potential and likely direct consequences if antibiotic use in all settings (humans, animals and agriculture) is not reduced.
Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Urgent Care
As a rapidly expanding healthcare sector, urgent care provides an estimated 160 million patient visits each year. Compared to other specialties, urgent care providers see a significant percentage of patients with acute, infectious disease-related symptoms. This results in both appropriate antibiotic prescribing as well as a greater opportunity for antibiotic stewardship.
Members of the media seeking information regarding the urgent care industry or in need of an industry spokesperson should contact the account executives at L.C. Williams and Associates, at ucamedia@lcwa.com or 312-565-3900.
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