Evaluating an urgent care antibiotic stewardship intervention: a multi-network collaborative effort

The study investigates the effectiveness of an antibiotic stewardship intervention in reducing inappropriate prescribing for bronchitis and viral upper respiratory tract infections in urgent care centers (UCCs). The intervention involved actively engaged clinicians signing a commitment statement and selecting from five intervention options. The primary outcome was the percentage of encounters for viral URTIs or bronchitis with inappropriate prescribing. The intervention was associated with a 48% decrease in inappropriate prescribing among actively engaged clinicians. Implementing stewardship interventions in UCCs may reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for common diagnoses.