NCT07217002

Reducing Antibiotic Use by Implementation of Stewardship in Primary and Urgent Care

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 420 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Months – 12 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this project is to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use for children with ARTIs (Acute Respiratory Tract Infections) by implementing "outpatient antibiotic stewardship" across the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Primary and Urgent Care Network to: 1. Reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for the most common infections in children. 2. Reduce unnecessary a) broad-spectrum and b) longer-course antibiotic therapy for ear infections, Strep throat, sinus infections, and pneumonia.

Detailed description

Children often receive antibiotics for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) which are caused by viruses, such as the common cold. However, antibiotics cannot treat viruses. Using antibiotics when they are not needed can cause harm - including side effects like rashes, vomiting and diarrhea - and can make it harder for the antibiotics to work when they are needed to treat infections caused by bacteria. For ARTIs caused by bacteria - like ear infections, sinus infections, strep throat or pneumonia - narrow-spectrum antibiotics are the best choice. This is because narrow-spectrum antibiotics target only the harmful bacteria, while "broad-spectrum" antibiotics target additional bacteria than can be helpful for the body. For many of these infections, it is also better to use shorter courses of antibiotics (such as five days) instead of longer courses (such as 10 days). Research studies have shown clearly that shorter courses and narrow-spectrum antibiotics cure infections just as well as longer courses and broad-spectrum antibiotics, but with fewer side effects. Over two years, the project team will use proven strategies to ensure that children get the right antibiotics for the right amount of time. During this time, all pediatric doctors and nurse practitioners in this large, diverse network will receive: 1. Online education about proper antibiotic prescribing. 2. Regular feedback on how their antibiotic prescribing and group A strep testing compares to their peers and to professional guidelines. 3. Tools in the electronic health record to make it easy to prescribe the right antibiotics. 4. Yearly, live hybrid in-person and online educational sessions The project team will determine how well this program works by measuring: 1. How often antibiotics are prescribed to children with ARTIs. 2. How often children with bacterial ARTIs (ear infections, sinus infections, strep throat and pneumonia) get the right antibiotic choice and right number of antibiotic days.

Conditions

• Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)
• Sinusitis
• Strep Pharyngitis
• Acute Otitis Media (AOM)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Online Educational Modules	Online educational modules for clinicians that describe optimal antibiotic use and provide strategies to communicate with families about antibiotic prescribing for ARTIs. Modules are assigned through CHOP's internal learning website and assigned to every single primary care provider.
OTHER	Prescribing Feedback Reports	Prescribing feedback reports distributed quarterly that show clinicians how their prescribing and Group A Strep testing compares to their peers and to professional guideline recommendations. Will include metrics of overall prescribing and show choice and duration for antibiotics given ear infections, Strep throat, sinus infections, and pneumonia. The goal of the feedback reports is to show clinicians how often they are prescribing antibiotics, and when they do prescribe antibiotics are they doing so with right antibiotic and for the correct duration.
OTHER	Clinical Decision Support	Clinical decision support built into the electronic health record to help clinicians choose the right antibiotics for the right number of days. Using information from guidelines and clinical pathways created by CHOP to help providers continue to optimize their prescribing practices.
OTHER	Live, hybrid in-person and online educational sessions	Live, hybrid in-person and online educational sessions that explain the project, describe best prescribing practices and allow clinicians to talk directly with project team members. Study leaders visit all 31 practices across the network.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-02-18
• Primary completion: 2028-05-01
• Completion: 2029-05-01
• First posted: 2025-10-15
• Last updated: 2026-04-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States