Joint Commission to make antibiotic stewardship mandatory by 2017

In the wake of a CMS ruling that will make antibiotic stewardship programs (ASP) mandatory, The Joint Commission recently announced that it will roll out a similar standard. Effective January 1, 2017, the new Medication Management standard requires facilities to create an effective ASP. The standard applies to hospitals, critical access hospitals, and nursing care centers.

The Joint Commission released the standard a month after attending the White House Forum on Antibiotic Stewardship, which focused on implementing changes over the next five years to slow the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, detect resistant strains, promote stewardship of existing antibiotics, and prevent the spread of resistant infections. Representatives from 150 retailers, food organizations, healthcare organizations, and animal health organizations were in attendance.

Only 40% of U.S. hospitals have an antibiotic stewardship program and an estimated 30% to 50% of prescribed antibiotics are unnecessary or inappropriate.  In the U.S., drug-resistant diseases cause 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses each year. That number is expected to increase exponentially in the upcoming decades.