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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services established a new rule in November 2016 requiring nursing homes to implement an antibiotic stewardship program. This is codified into Federal law at §483.80(a)(3).
Phase one of F880 addresses the fundamentals of antibiotic stewardship represented as 'isolation' which includes hand hygiene and transmission based precautions. F881 states that nursing homes should "develop an antibiotic stewardship program that promotes the appropriate use of antibiotics and includes a system of monitoring to improve resident outcomes and reduce antibiotic resistance. Ref: Federal law §483.80(a)(3).
Fundamental to any antibiotic stewardship program is the ability to properly identify bacterial and viral agents in order to properly treat residents, minimize transmission, and optimize the appropriate use of antibiotics. In recent years millions of infections are occurring in long-term care facility residents and roughly 63% of all nursing home deaths can be attributed to infections. As many as 79% of residents in these facilities receive systemic antibiotics each year. As much as 75% of these antibiotics appear to be inappropriately prescribed. Better identification of actual infectious agents is the key to better antibiotic stewardship. But overall improvement will depend on improved antibiotic prescribing habits and decreasing overall antibiotic exposure.
CMG Laboratories has established a clinical directive to establish and maintain molecular laboratory testing and procedures for a new antimicrobial stewardship standard required in Long Term Care centers and Nursing Homes to ensure facilities are compliant with newly enforced federal mandates.