Hawaii Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative (HASC) for Acute Care Hospitals

Antimicrobial stewardship refers to coordinated interventions designed to improve the use of antibiotics. This program has been shown to increase optimal prescribing for therapy and prophylaxis, to improve the quality of patient care, to reduce adverse events associated with antibiotic use (e.g., Clostridioides difficile infection), to decrease the risk of multidrug resistant organisms, and to offer potential cost savings to hospitals. CDC recommends that antibiotic stewardship programs be implemented in all hospitals.

The Hawaii Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative (HASC) convenes Acute Care Hospitals six times a year to exchange ideas, to support efforts to improve antibiotic prescribing, as well as to stay informed about current recommendations and best practices.

The most recent CDC study focused on antibiotic prescribing in US hospitals found that more than half of antibiotic prescribing for selected events in hospitals was not consistent with recommended prescribing practices. Clinicians and pharmacists can improve antibiotic prescribing by:

following recommendation guidelines,
re-assessing antibiotic treatment when the results of diagnostic testing are available, and
using the shortest effective duration of therapy.

To join the Hawaii Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative (HASC) contact the AR Epidemiologist, Enid Vélez at:

[email protected]
Phone No. (808) 208-4701