Intermountain Health receives grant to combat antibiotic resistance

Bailey Chism
The City Journals

Researchers at Intermountain Health have been awarded a $356,000 grant from Merck, a global science and technology company that develops medicines, vaccines and other health solutions, to fight antibiotic resistance and overuse in urgent and outpatient care settings to make sure patients get the best possible treatment for their illnesses. The grant will kick off the Intermountain ReSCORE-UC project — a two-year study on behavioral and organizational drivers of antibiotic use in Intermountain’s urgent care centers and outpatient clinics.

The grant will allow researchers to have a better idea of sustaining durable improvements in antibiotic prescribing practices within these community settings. Among the urgent care environments, the high antibiotic prescription rate of clinicians for respiratory infections remains a constant predicament. In urgent care settings, more than 90 percent of infections do not have desirable treatment with antibiotics; these frequently cause serious side effects and develop antimicrobial resistance, according to a release from Intermountain.

While past programs have temporarily lowered prescribing rates by calling attention to the problem, improvements often have been short-lived, with rates usually climbing again shortly after the programs are completed. The new study extends the success of an initiative called SCORE-UC, which earlier had reduced antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory infections 15 percent at Intermountain Health’s 26 urgent care centers. Despite this success, the reduction was not permanent, and prescribing rates have begun to increase once more.

The over-prescription of antibiotics poses a threat to health nationwide, putting both individual and public health at risk, Intermountain said. The unnecessary consumption of antibiotics has quickly caused some antimicrobial resistance to rise. Consequently, certain antibiotics that were once effective are not anymore, leading to infections that are much worse, longer hospitalization, additional complications, and even death. Adverse side effects of antibiotics include allergic reactions and disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, which sometimes can be serious.

Since 90 percent of respiratory infections are viral rather than bacterial, prescribing antibiotics in those instances is ineffective and needlessly exposes patients to potential side effects. The new grant also will support research into how the rates of antibiotic prescribing vary across different patient populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, and between rural and urban areas.

Led by investigators at Intermountain Health in collaboration with Dr. Adam Hersch, a pediatric infectious disease expert with the University of Utah, the aim is to enhance antibiotic stewardship throughout Utah urgent care facilities and throughout the Mountain West.