Impact of Intervention by an Antimicrobial Stewardship Team on Conversion from Intravenous to Oral Fluoroquinolones

BACKGROUND: Early conversion from intravenous to oral antibiotics plays an important role in lowering the risk of catheter-associated infections, reducing the workload of nurses, decreasing direct and indirect costs, and shortening hospital stays. In August 2015, an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) was implemented to facilitate conversion from intravenous to oral administration of fluoroquinolones in our institute. This study evaluated the clinical and economic impact of the intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected by reviewing electronic medical records. All hospitalized patients aged 18 and older who met the study inclusion criteria for the conversion were included between August and November 2015. We computed the physicians' adherence rate to the ASP recommendations. We also measured the total use of fluoroquinolones, length of hospital stay, and medication costs. RESULTS: During 4 months, 129 cases were enrolled in the study. The adherence rate was 79.8%. The average total prescription volume of intravenous fluoroquinolones, the length of hospital stay, and the total cost of the fluoroquinolones statistically significantly decreased in the intervention-adherent group. CONCLUSION: Intervention to facilitate conversion from intravenous to oral administration has reduced excess use of intravenous fluoroquinolones and length of hospital stay. With these findings, further implementations of the ASP extending to other antibiotics may be warranted.