IMPORTANCEUse of empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics for pneumonia has increased owing to concern for resistant organisms, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The association of empirical anti-MRSA therapy with outcomes among patients with pneumonia is unknown, even for high-risk patients.OBJECTIVE To compare 30-day mortality among patients hospitalized for pneumonia receiving empirical anti-MRSA therapy vs standard empirical antibiotic regimens. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSRetrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted of all hospitalizations in which patients received either anti-MRSA or standard therapy for community-onset pneumonia in the Veterans Health Administration health care system from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2013. Subgroups of patients analyzed were those with initial intensive care unit admission, MRSA risk factors, positive results of a MRSA surveillance test, and positive results of a MRSA admission culture. Primary analysis was an inverse probability of treatment-weighted propensity score analysis using generalized estimating equation regression; secondary analyses included an instrumental variable analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted from June 14 to November 20, 2019.EXPOSURES Empirical anti-MRSA therapy plus standard pneumonia therapy vs standard therapy alone within the first day of hospitalization.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Risk of 30-day all-cause mortality after adjustment for patient comorbidities, vital signs, and laboratory results. Secondary outcomes included the development of kidney injury and secondary infections with Clostridioides difficile, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus species, or gram-negative bacilli. RESULTS Among 88 605 hospitalized patients (86 851 men; median age, 70 years [interquartile range, 62-81 years]), empirical anti-MRSA therapy was administered to 33 632 (38%); 8929 patients (10%) died within 30 days. Compared with standard therapy alone, in weighted propensity score analysis, empirical anti-MRSA therapy plus standard therapy was significantly associated with an increased adjusted risk of death (adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 1.4 [95% CI, 1.3-1.5]), kidney injury (aRR, 1.4 [95% CI, 1.3-1.5]), and secondary C difficile infections (aRR, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.3-1.9]), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp infections (aRR, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.0-2.3]), and secondary gram-negative rod infections (aRR, 1.5 [95% CI, 1.2-1.8]). Similar associations between anti-MRSA therapy use and 30-day mortality were found by instrumental variable analysis (aRR, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.4-1.9]) and among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (aRR, 1.3 [95% CI, 1.2-1.5]), those with a high risk for MRSA (aRR, 1.2 [95% CI, 1.1-1.4]), and those with MRSA detected on surveillance testing (aRR, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.3-1.9]). No significant favorable association was found between empirical anti-MRSA therapy and death among patients with MRSA detected on culture (aRR, 1.1 [95% CI, 0.8-1.4]).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study suggests that empirical anti-MRSA th...

Background The Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship provide a framework to improve antibiotic use, but evidence supporting safety are limited. We report the impact of Core Elements implementation within Veterans Health Administration sites. Methods A quasi-experimental controlled study assessed the effects of an intervention targeting antibiotic prescription for uncomplicated acute respiratory tract infections (ARI). Outcomes included per-visit antibiotic prescribing, treatment appropriateness, potential benefits and complications of reduced antibiotic treatment, and change in ARI diagnoses over a 3-year pre-implementation and 1-year post implementation period. Logistic regression adjusted for covariates [OR (95% CI)] and a difference-in-differences analysis compared outcomes between intervention and control sites. Results From 2014-2019, there were 16,712 and 51,275 patient-visits in 10 intervention and 40 control sites, respectively. Antibiotic prescribing rates pre-post implementation in intervention sites were 59.7% and 41.5%, respectively; in control sites they were 73.5% and 67.2%, respectively [difference-in-differences p<0.001]. The intervention site pre-post implementation odds ratio to receive appropriate therapy increased [1.67 (1.31, 2.14)] which remained unchanged within control sites [1.04 (0.91, 1.19)]. There was no difference in ARI-related return visits post-implementation [(-1.3% vs. -2.0%; difference-in-differences p=0.76] but all-cause hospitalization was lower within intervention sites [(-0.5% vs. -0.2%); difference-in-differences p=0.02]. The odds ratio to diagnose upper respiratory tract infection not otherwise specified compared to other non-ARI diagnosis increased post-implementation for intervention [1.27(1.21,1.34)] but not control [0.97(0.94,1.01)] sites. Conclusions Implementation of the Core Elements was associated with reduced antibiotic prescribing for uncomplicated ARIs and a reduction in hospitalizations. ARI diagnostic coding changes were observed.

Key Points Question Are contact precautions for pathogen transmission associated with reductions in person-to-person transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in US Veterans Affairs (VA) acute care hospitals? Findings In this cohort study, transmission models were fit to data on 8.4 million surveillance tests from 5.6 million admissions to 108 VA hospitals between 2008 and 2017. The estimated reduction in transmissibility of MRSA associated with contact precautions was 47%. Meaning In this large-scale study, contact precautions were associated with a 2-fold reduction in MRSA transmission, which suggests that the MRSA Prevention Initiative was associated with the decline in acquisition rates in VA hospitals.

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Objective:Determine the effectiveness of a personal protective equipment (PPE)-free zone intervention on healthcare personnel (HCP) entry hand hygiene (HH) and PPE donning compliance in rooms of patients in contact precautions.Design:Quasi-experimental, multicenter intervention, before-and-after study with concurrent controls.Setting:All patient rooms on contact precautions on 16 units (5 medical-surgical, 6 intensive care, 5 specialty care units) at 3 acute-care facilities (2 academic medical centers, 1 Veterans Affairs hospital). Observations of PPE donning and entry HH compliance by HCP were conducted during both study phases. Surveys of HCP perceptions of the PPE-free zone were distributed in both study phases.Intervention:A PPE-free zone, where a low-risk area inside door thresholds of contact precautions rooms was demarcated by red tape on the floor. Inside this area, HCP were not required to wear PPE.Results:We observed 3,970 room entries. HH compliance did not change between study phases among intervention units (relative risk [RR], 0.92; P = .29) and declined in control units (RR, 0.70; P = .005); however, the PPE-free zone did not significantly affect compliance (P = .07). The PPE-free zone effect on HH was significant only for rooms on enteric precautions (P = .008). PPE use was not significantly different before versus after the intervention (P = .15). HCP perceived the zone positively; 65% agreed that it facilitated communication and 66.8% agreed that it permitted checking on patients more frequently.Conclusions:HCP viewed the PPE-free zone favorably and it did not adversely affect PPE or HH compliance. Future infection prevention interventions should consider the complex sociotechnical system factors influencing behavior change.

Background Deaths from pneumonia were decreasing globally prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is unclear whether this was due to changes in patient populations, illness severity, diagnosis, hospitalization thresholds, or treatment. Using clinical data from the electronic health record among a national cohort of patients initially diagnosed with pneumonia, we examined temporal trends in severity of illness, hospitalization, and short- and long-term deaths. Design Retrospective cohort Participants All patients >18 years presenting to emergency departments (EDs) at 118 VA Medical Centers between 1/1/2006 and 12/31/2016 with an initial clinical diagnosis of pneumonia and confirmed by chest imaging report. Exposures Year of encounter. Main Measures Hospitalization and 30-day and 90-day mortality. Illness severity was defined as the probability of each outcome predicted by machine learning predictive models using age, sex, comorbidities, vital signs, and laboratory data from encounters during years 2006–2007, and similar models trained on encounters from years 2015 to 2016. We estimated the changes in hospitalizations and 30-day and 90-day mortality between the first and the last 2 years of the study period accounted for by illness severity using time covariate decompositions with model estimates. Results Among 196,899 encounters across the study period, hospitalization decreased from 71 to 63%, 30-day mortality 10 to 7%, 90-day mortality 16 to 12%, and 1-year mortality 29 to 24%. Comorbidity risk increased, but illness severity decreased. Decreases in illness severity accounted for 21–31% of the decrease in hospitalizations, and 45–47%, 32–24%, and 17–19% of the decrease in 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year mortality. Findings were similar among underrepresented patients and those with only hospital discharge diagnosis codes. Conclusions Outcomes for community-onset pneumonia have improved across the VA healthcare system after accounting for illness severity, despite an increase in cases and comorbidity burden. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11606-022-07413-8.

Background Acute otitis media (AOM) and otitis media with effusion (OME) occur primarily in children, whereas acute otitis externa (AOE) occurs with similar frequency in children and adults. Data on the incidence and management of otitis in adults are limited. This study characterizes the incidence, antibiotic management, and outcomes for adults with otitis diagnoses. Methods A retrospective cohort of ambulatory adult veterans who presented with acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) diagnoses at 6 VA Medical Centers during 2014–2018 was created. Then, a subcohort of patients with acute otitis diagnoses was developed. Patient visits were categorized with administrative diagnostic codes for ARI (eg, sinusitis, pharyngitis) and otitis (OME, AOM, and AOE). Incidence rates for each diagnosis were calculated. Proportions of otitis visits with antibiotic prescribing, complications, and specialty referral were summarized. Results Of 46 634 ARI visits, 3898 (8%) included an otitis diagnosis: OME (22%), AOM (44%), AOE (31%), and multiple otitis diagnoses (3%). Incidence rates were otitis media 4.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9–4.2) and AOE 2.0 (95% CI, 1.9–2.1) diagnoses per 1000 patient-years. By comparison, the incidence rates for pharyngitis (8.4; 95% CI, 8.2–8.6) and sinusitis (15.2; 95% CI, 14.9–15.5) were higher. Systemic antibiotics were prescribed in 75%, 63%, and 21% of AOM, OME, and AOE visits, respectively. Complications for otitis visits were low irrespective of antibiotic treatment. Conclusions Administrative data indicated that otitis media diagnoses in adults were half as common as acute pharyngitis, and the majority received antibiotic treatment, which may be inappropriate. Prospective studies verifying diagnostic accuracy and antibiotic appropriateness are warranted.

Background Empirical antibiotic use is common in the hospital. Here, we characterize patterns of antibiotic use, infectious diagnoses, and microbiological lab results among hospitalized patients and aim to quantify the proportion of antibiotic use that is potentially attributable to specific bacterial pathogens. Methods We conducted an observational study using electronic health records from acute care facilities in the United States Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. From October 2017 to September 2018, 482,381 hospitalizations for 332,657 unique patients that met all criteria were included. At least one antibiotic was administered at 202,037 (41.9%) of included hospital stays. We measured frequency of antibiotic use, microbiological specimen collection, and bacterial isolation by diagnosis category and antibiotic group. A tiered system based on specimen collection sites and diagnoses was used to attribute antibiotic use to presumptive causative organisms. Results Specimens were collected at 130,012 (64.4%) hospitalizations with any antibiotic use, and at least one bacterial organism was isolated at 35.1% of these stays. Frequency of bacterial isolation varied widely by diagnosis category and antibiotic group. Under increasingly lenient criteria, 10.2% to 31.4% of 974,733 antibiotic days-of-therapy could be linked to a potential bacterial pathogen. Conclusions Overall, the vast majority of antibiotic use could be linked to either an infectious diagnosis or microbiological specimen. Nearly half of antibiotic use occurred when there was a specimen collected but no bacterial organism identified, underscoring the need for rapid and improved diagnostics to optimize antibiotic use.