Antibiotic stewardship updates from Joint Commission effective January 1, 2023
by A.J. Plunkett (aplunkett@decisionhealth.com)
According to the CDC, there are over 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections in the U.S. annually, causing 35,000 deaths and $4.6 billion in healthcare costs. With all signs pointing toward a proliferation of antibiotic-resistant diseases in upcoming years, the stewardship of antibiotics impacts everyone—providers and patients alike.
In response, The Joint Commission (TJC) has several updated antibiotic stewardship elements of performance (EP) that will take effect on January 1, 2023. These EPs include requirements to have an antibiotic stewardship committee, someone to head the committee that then oversees selection of evidence-based guidelines (EBG), and a plan to turn data into action.
Robert Campbell, PharmD, BCSCP, director of Medication Management and of TJC’s Standards Interpretation Group, gave a presentation about the antibiotic stewardship standards at TJC’s annual Executive Briefing in September.
“Be prepared to be held accountable to these requirements on any survey you have on or after January the 1st, 2023,” he said.
All of the new or revised EPs are under the Medication Management standard MM.09.01.01, which was revised to emphasize that hospitals must make antibiotic stewardship an organizational priority.
Readers can see a crosswalk of the upcoming changes on TJC’s website by going to “standards” and then selecting “pre-publication,” Campbell said. (Or go here.)