Mia Vang, PharmDa; Phuong Khanh T. Nguyen, PharmD, BCIDPa; My-Phuong Pham, PharmDa; Ashni Patel, PharmD, BCIDPa; Jonathan Balakumar, MDa,b; Joy Park, PharmD, BCPSa
Correspondence: Jonathan Balakumar (jonathanbalakumarmd@gmail.com)
aVeterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, California
bDavid Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles
Author disclosures
The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest or outside sources of funding with regard to this article.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the US Government, or any of its agencies.
Ethics and consent
This project was reviewed by the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Institutional Review Board and was determined to be exempt from research review.
Inconsistent and incomplete documentation of clinical data in the electronic health record made the characterization of patient encounters challenging. Furthermore, ED HCPs varying clinical practices may have impacted the heterogeneity of UTI diagnosis and management at VAGLAHS.
Conclusions
Implementation of an ED pharmacist-driven UTI aftercare program at VAGLAHS reduced unnecessary antimicrobial exposure, improved antibiotic management, and ensured continuity of care postdischarge. Findings from our project implicate possible future pharmacist involvement predischarge, such as targeting inappropriate asymptomatic bacteriuria treatment.14-16 This pilot program suggested the feasibility of integrating antimicrobial stewardship practices within the ED setting in an ongoing effort to improve the quality of care for veterans.
