The purpose of this study is to reduce the exposure of broad-spectrum antimicrobials by optimizing the rapid detection of CAP pathogens and improving rates of de-escalation following negative cultures. To accomplish this, we will perform a 3-year, pragmatic, multicenter 2 X 2 factorial cluster randomized controlled trial with four arms: a) rapid diagnostic testing b) pharmacist-led de-escalation c) rapid diagnostic testing + pharmacist-led de-escalation and d) usual care
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of hospitalization and inpatient antimicrobial use in the United States. However, diagnostic uncertainty at the time of initial treatment and following negative cultures is associated with prolonged exposure to broad-spectrum antimicrobials. We propose a large multicenter cluster randomized controlled trial to test two approaches to reducing the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in adult patients with CAP a) routine use of rapid diagnostic testing at the time of admission and b) pharmacist -led de-escalation after 48 hours for clinically stable patients with negative cultures. When a patient is admitted with a diagnosis of pneumonia, it will trigger the admission order set and if the physician is in a hospital randomized to the rapid diagnostic testing arm, a CDSS-based alert will be generated in real time, and the form will append orders for viral, UAT and procalcitonin testing. For physicians at a hospital randomized to the control condition, ordering will proceed as usual (standard-of-care). A second CDSS algorithm will identify study patients who have negative culture results (blood and/or sputum) for greater than 48 hours and generate a list for the antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist, who will be a member of the study team. The alerts will be audited by the clinical pharmacist daily on weekdays at a centralized location. In clinically stable patients from hospitals randomized to the de-escalation arm, the pharmacist will communicate their recommendations for de-escalation to the clinical providers via a phone call, Epic chat, or page. The primary outcome will be the duration of exposure to broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy defined by the number of days of antibiotic therapy from initiation to discontinuation. Secondary outcomes will include detection of influenza/RSV, de-escalation and re-escalation to broad-spectrum antibiotics after de-escalation, total antibiotic duration, in-hospital mortality, ICU transfer after admission, healthcare-associated CDI and acute kidney injury after 48 hours.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
28,580
Eligible patients in hospitals randomized to this arm will undergo testing for viral pathogens (from November-April) and pneumococcal UAT and procalcitonin testing. A CDSS-based alert will be generated in real time. If the patient is not being admitted to the intensive care unit, the form will append orders for viral pathogen, UAT and procalcitonin testing.
A CDSS algorithm will identify CAP patients who meet study criteria and have negative culture results for greater than 48 hours and generate a list for the antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist, who will be a member of the study team. The alerts will be audited by the pharmacist daily at a centralized location. The pharmacist will attempt to determine whether each patient is clinically stable. The validated measures of clinical stability in patients with CAP are a) resolved vital sign abnormalities (temperature, heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and respiratory rate) b) normal mental status and c) ability to eat. If the patient appears stable, the pharmacist will communicate their recommendations for de-escalation to the clinical providers via a phone call or page. The de-escalation recommendations made by the pharmacist will be based on a protocol developed by the research team.
Indian River Hospital
Vero Beach, Florida, United States
Weston Hospital/Cleveland Clinic Florida
Weston, Florida, United States
Akron General Hospital
Akron, Ohio, United States
Avon Hospital
Avon, Ohio, United States
Lutheran Hospital
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Euclid Hospital
Euclid, Ohio, United States
Fairview Hospital
Fairview Park, Ohio, United States
Marymount Hospital
Garfield Heights, Ohio, United States
Hillcrest Hospital
Mayfield Heights, Ohio, United States
...and 2 more locations
Number of days of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy
duration of exposure to broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy defined by the number of days of antibiotic therapy in the first 21 days of admission as per National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) guidelines
Time frame: first 21 days of admission
viral testing ordered (yes/no)
Proportion of patients in whom viral testing was ordered. We will look at each virus individually as well as all viruses together (i.e. any viral testing)
Time frame: Up to 48 hours
detection of influenza virus (yes/no)
Proportion of patients who test positive for influenza
Time frame: Up to 48 hours
detection of RSV (yes/no)
Proportion of patients who test positive for RSV
Time frame: up to 48 hours
detection of viruses/atypical bacteria in the respiratory panel (yes/no)
Proportion of patients who test positive for each of the viruses/atypical bacteria in the respiratory panel
Time frame: up to 48 hours
treatment with anti-viral medications
treatment with anti-viral medications (oseltamivir, zanamivir, peramivir, baloxavir, ribavirin, remdesivir, nirmatrelvir, COVID-19 medications)
Time frame: up to 48 hours
treatment with antiviral medications
treatment with antiviral medications (oseltamivir, zanamivir, peramivir, baloxavir, ribavirin, remdesivir, nirmatrelvir, COVID-19 medications)
Time frame: within 21 days
S. pneumoniae urinary antigen test (UAT) performed
Proportion of patients in whom UAT is performed
Time frame: up to 48 hours
positive pneumococcal UAT
Proportion of patients with positive pneumococcal UAT
Time frame: up to 48 hours
de-escalation by 72 hours from admission (yes/no)
Proportion of patients whose broad spectrum antimicrobials (imipenem, meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, cefepime, ceftazidime, tobramycin, ceftazidime-avibactam, ceftolozane-tazobactam, meropenem-vaborbactam, imipenem-cilastatin-relebactam, cefiderocol, ceftaroline, tigecycline, eravacycline, amikacin, linezolid or vancomycin) are de-escalated
Time frame: within 72 hours from admission.
re-escalation to broad-spectrum antibiotics after de-escalation (yes/no)
Proportion of patients whose antibiotics were de-escalated and that were subsequently re-escalated to broad-spectrum antibiotics (imipenem, meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, cefepime, ceftazidime, tobramycin, ceftazidime-avibactam, ceftolozane-tazobactam, meropenem-vaborbactam, imipenem-cilastatin-relebactam, cefiderocol, ceftaroline, tigecycline, eravacycline, amikacin, linezolid or vancomycin).
Time frame: by 21 days from admission
total duration of any antibacterial antibiotic
Total duration of any antibacterial antibiotic treatment up to 21 days, including re-initiation of antibiotics
Time frame: up to 21 days
14-day mortality
proportion of patients who die by 14 days
Time frame: up to 14 days
30-day mortality
proportion of patients who die by 30 days
Time frame: up to 30 days
ICU transfer after admission (> 24 hours after admission)
proportion of patients transferred to the ICU \>24 hours after admission up to 21 days
Time frame: up to 21 days
healthcare-associated C.difficile Infection (CDI) (yes/no)
CDI after 72 hours of admission. Proportion of patients with CDI after 72 hours of admission (healthcare-associated CDI) until discharge
Time frame: after 72 hours of admission until discharge
acute kidney injury after 48 hours (yes/no) after 48 hours
Proportion of patients with AKI after 48 hours of admission, up to 21 days
Time frame: up to 21 days
total inpatient cost (from hospital's cost accounting system)
total inpatient cost (from hospital's cost accounting system) - from admission to discharge or 21 days, whichever comes first
Time frame: from admission to discharge or 21 days, whichever comes first
hospital length-of-stay (days, hours)
length of stay will be calculated in days from the time of admission to the time of discharge
Time frame: days from the time of admission to the time of discharge
empyema (yes/no)
empyema (pus in the pleural space)
Time frame: from 48 hours to 21 days
30-day readmission (yes/no)
30-day hospital readmission
Time frame: up to 30 days after discharge
Infection with a resistant organism in the future (yes/no)
up to 6 months after discharge. Resistance to CAP therapy will be defined as resistance to either a respiratory quinolone or to both a beta-lactam/3rd generation cephalosporin and a macrolide. Multi-drug resistance will be defined as any CAP bacterial isolate that tests either intermediate (I) or resistant (R) to at least one agent in three or more antimicrobial classes
Time frame: up to 6 months after discharge
Procalcitonin test (PCT) performed
Procalcitonin test (PCT) performed. Proportion of patients in whom PCT testing is performed
Time frame: up to 48 hours
Procalcitonin test (PCT) values
Procalcitonin test (PCT) values. Proportion of patients with low vs high PCT values
Time frame: up to 48 hours
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