The data dashboard tracks benchmarks for the Antibiotic Time-outs project of UNC Medical Center, including percent of patients for which a time-out was carried out and the percent of recommended changes that take place on time. It includes information that can be distilled by service line (for those that participate in time-outs).
To access this resource, login to UNC Health MyApps. Double-click the Tableau icon. In the search field, type ‘antibiotic time outs’. If the dashboard doesn’t appear, make an ARC request for “UNCMC Hospitals Epidemiology”. After the request is granted, the dashboard will appear under the Tableau icon in MyApps.
What are antibiotic time-outs?
Antibiotic time–outs (ATOs) are formal reassessments of antimicrobials prescribed to patients under the care of a clinical team. Time–outs typically take place two to three days following the start of antimicrobial treatment. A time–out provides a structured “pause”: the healthcare provider takes new information into account–such as results from blood or urine cultures and how the patient responds to the drug — and decides if adjustments are needed to the drug, dose, duration, or route. For example, drugs can be selected to more precisely target the organism identified in a culture, discontinued if the patient is not found to have an illness that will respond to antimicrobials after all, or changed from the IV to oral route. Sometimes, a time–out confirms that no change is needed.
Time–outs are useful to ensure patients receive optimal antimicrobial treatment and help reduce unnecessary, redundant, or longer–than–needed antimicrobial use. To preserve the effective life–span of antimicrobial drugs, interventions such as antibiotic time–outs help to combat resistance as a part of wider antimicrobial stewardship efforts
