Antimicrobial Stewardship Program

The RWJBarnabas Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) is a coordinated multidisciplinary effort, working in concert with the Pharmacy Infectious Diseases Collaborative, to promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials, improve patient outcomes, and mitigate the consequences of antimicrobial resistance across our hospitals and communities.

The RWJBarnabas Health ASP is grounded in the CDC Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship. The ASP has fundamental procedures in place to meet the Core Elements, including surveillance of culture and sensitivity, de escalation and escalation, IV to oral transitioning, and renal adjustment of antimicrobial therapy. In 2023, the Pharmacy Infectious Disease Collaborative along with the RWJBarnabas Health Antimicrobial Stewardship program accomplished the following items:

Standardized dosing for extended infusion beta-lactam antibiotics across the health system.

Expanded awareness of antimicrobial stewardship throughout the health system and our communities through the recognition of US Antibiotic Awareness Week.

Completed 2 class reviews for antibiotics for formulary alignment across the health system.

Increased the number of facilities with Gold recognition in the New Jersey Department of Health Antibiotic Stewardship Program.

Future efforts of the RWJBarnabas Health ASP program will be on the measurement of guidelines compliance, additional dosing standardization and improved measurement of ASP activities.

The above graph shows RWJBarnabas Health Standardized Antimicrobial Administration Ratio (SAAR). A SAAR > 1.0 indicates greater antimicrobial than predicted. A SAAR = 1.0 indicates antimicrobial use equivalent to predicted use. A SAAR < 1.0 indicates less antimicrobial use than predicted. The red bar indicates the target SAAR 1.