Infectious Disease Collaborative

The RWJBarnabas Health Pharmacy Enterprise Infectious Disease Collaborative is responsible for promoting the judicious use of antimicrobials throughout the health system to optimize patient outcomes and limit adverse effects. The collaborative garners consensus among content experts regarding design and implementation of strategies to improve antimicrobial use. Evidence-based medicine and rigorous literature evaluation drive the decision-making process. The collaborative supports the Clinical Pharmacy Council and coordinates with both system-wide and local multidisciplinary committees in order to fulfill its responsibilities.

Membership

Chair: Pharmacy Systems Integration Analyst, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Co-chair: Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Jersey City Medical Center
Members: Corporate Assistant Vice President of Clinical Pharmacy Services, Corporate Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services, Corporate Director of Pharmacy Systems Integration and Clinical Pharmacy Specialists from Acute Care Service Line

Meetings

The Antimicrobial Stewardship Subcommittee shall meet quarterly or as otherwise deemed necessary by the chair.

Responsibilities

• Serves as infectious disease pharmacotherapy subject matter experts by providing antimicrobial use recommendations to a variety of pharmacy and multidisciplinary committees at both the system and local levels
• Collaborates with Microbiology to enhance culture identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing and reporting
• Refines the electronic medication ordering system in collaboration with Information Technology to facilitate appropriate antimicrobial selection, dosing and duration
• Advocates for antimicrobial stewardship throughout the continuum of care
• Develops educational materials regarding antimicrobial stewardship and antimicrobial resistance
• Provides recommendations to the Clinical Pharmacy Council regarding antimicrobial formulary decisions
• Designs, executes and reports antimicrobial stewardship quality improvement research
• Tracks and monitors antimicrobial stewardship outcome metrics
• Develops strategies to ensure compliance with antimicrobial stewardship regulatory requirements
• Serves as a representative on the system-wide Infectious Disease Multidisciplinary Collaborative

Infectious Disease Collaborative Membership