Proposed budget would double spending in the fight against overuse of antibiotics
Reducing the overuse of antibiotics has long been identified as priority by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. The NCQA created HEDIS measures to guide health care providers in the appropriate use of antibiotics and companies like HEDIS Nurses help measure compliance with these measures through highly accurate HEDIS reporting services. However, despite current efforts, overuse of antibiotics continues to be a problem. President Obama’s most recent proposed budget contains provisions to address this issue.
The Perils of Overprescribing
The new budget announcement comes on the heels of a recent CDC study which showed a link between frequent or careless use of antibiotics and an increase in deadly infections. When antibiotics are used overzealously, bacteria begin to develop resistances to the medications. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria sicken over 2 million people and kill over 20,000 each year in this country.
The CDC study found that patients who received a broad-acting antibiotic while hospitalized were three times more likely to pick up a potentially deadly C. diff. infection as a result. Yet, by reducing the use of antibiotics by 30 percent, the researchers estimated that the infection rate could be cut by 26 percent. This would not only protect current patients, but also help preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for future generations. Plus, a hospital with a responsible antibiotic use program that complies with relevant HEDIS measures could save $200,000 to $900,000 per year.
Fighting Superbugs
The proposed budget allocates $30 million per year for the next five years towards efforts to detect and fight infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria or superbugs. The money would be spent on the creation of regional labs that could analyze health care data quickly, identify infection rates that constitute an outbreak, and help hospitals respond. In addition, programs would be created to help promote the adoption of practices that would reduce antibiotic use in general. Currently, some doctors prescribe antibiotics three times as often as others, sometimes without running necessary tests. If this behavior was changed, it could have a significant impact.
The CDC estimates that taking this kind of collaborative and proactive approach could cut C. diff. infections by 50 percent, as well as help reduce infection rates of other antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA, salmonella, and CRE.
Another possible way to reduce the impact of superbug infections would be Congress to pass tax credits to support R&D on new antibiotics, and for the FDA to be authorized to approve these new antibiotics more quickly. However these measures would probably only provide temporary relief if antibiotic overuse is not corrected first.
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